City of Lost Souls
by RoniMikaelson
Summary: New Orleans is a city of magic and music, but it is also a supernatural battleground. When Hope is taken as leverage by the witches, she learns that she's the daughter of the most feared supernatural creature: Klaus Mikaelson. With wars brewing on every side of her, she has no way out other than to manipulate, betray and kill… something Mikaelsons do best. On Hiatus
1. Welcome to New Orleans

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N the first few chapters are going to be very similar to the Originals episodes, but that's to set up the story line. After that, it's going to be different, so please stick around for it. Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

The club was full of dry-ice smoke. Neon lights danced around the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Music boomed louder than Hope thought possible; she knew her ears would still be ringing the next day. Still, she navigated her way through the crowd, headed for the bar.

Under normal circumstances, the club was the last place she'd go. In fact, she went out of her way to avoid places like that. She hated them. They were loud, the smoke made her cough, the lights were blinding. The large crowd of sweaty bodies doing what she guessed could pass as some kind of tribal dance didn't thrill her either.

She ducked under a swinging arm, dodged a girl twirling drunkenly and squeezed past another teen swaying in no way in time with the music and finally reached the bar. The bartender looked at her and scoffed.

"You want water? Cause that's all you're getting."

"I don't want anything." Hope told him quickly. She looked up and down the bar, searching for the teenage witch that had promised to meet her there. The witch had told her she knew all about the birthmark on Hope's shoulder and could point her in the direction of her family. The fact that she didn't spill the information right away was unnerving, but Hope figured nothing could happen in a crowded club.

Worst case scenario, it turned out the witch knew nothing at all and she had wasted her time. Best case scenario… Hope didn't want to think about 'best' anything. She'd never had much luck in any area of her life, so she planned for the worst at all times.

Someone bumped into her shoulder and her ribcage slammed into the bar. She gritted her teeth, straightening up. _Don't kill anyone, don't kill anyone,_ she reminded herself. Werewolf temper. Dangerous thing.

She knew all about the supernatural world. Witches, werewolves, vampires, the whole nine yards. She knew she was a witch with the potential to be a werewolf, should she kill anyone. In places like this, with everyone bumping into each other, with drunken guys trying to flirt with anyone with a pulse, her resolve to avoid murder was tested.

Someone pushed her hair aside from behind and she whirled, hand slapping theirs away before she even saw who was responsible for touching her. The woman, who looked older than everyone else in the club, chuckled.

"I was just checking out your mark. You were supposed to meet Yasmine here, right?" Off the blank look on Hope's face, she continued: "Teenage witch, five feet tall, too talkative for her own good?"

"Oh, that one. Didn't get her name."

"Yet you agree to meet her in a place you've never been before. You must be desperate." The woman noted.

"Where is she?" Hope had no patience for small-talk or other people questioning her admittedly questionable decisions.

"She couldn't come. I came instead. Between you and me, I'm much better company. I'm Sophie Devereaux." She held out her hand, obviously expecting Hope to introduce herself and shake her hand. Hope was used to not living up to people's expectations; it didn't bother her anymore.

"What do you know my family?"

"Not much for small talk, are you?"

"What do you know?" Hope repeated, hoping that she would get the point.

"They're a group of werewolves, but you already knew that, right? They were cursed a long time ago. They're not human anymore."

"Really, they're cursed? Not human anymore? Never would have gotten that from the world 'werewolf'. You're not helping me." Hope started to walk away, but Sophie caught her arm.

"Wait."

"You know something I don't or I'm leaving."

"Let me buy you a drink and we'll talk."

"I'm not here to drink. And I'm sixteen." Hope had to yell the last part; Sophie was already walking towards the bartender. She was ignored, so she stood there and waited for Sophie to return.

It was hot in the club, even though she'd chosen to wear some revealing clothes to fit in. Her tank top was sticking to her back and her hair was frizzing out because of the humidity. _Still better looking than this lot,_ she thought, glancing around the crowd.

Sophie sauntered back over, carrying a glass. She handed it to Hope.

"Bottoms up." Since it didn't seem like Sophie was going to talk until she drank, Hope obeyed. The liquid burned her tongue and her throat on the way down and she ended up coughing as Sophie took the glass back with a smile.

"What was that?"

"It's called alcohol, honey. Never had it?

"Did you not hear the part where I'm sixteen?"

"So what? You're a good sixteen year old? You've never run away? You've never come to a strange city to chase down leads about a family you've never even met?"

"Okay. I think we're done." Hope was uncomfortable and suddenly woozy. She started to walk past Sophie, but Sophie caught her arm. Hope struggled, but she was too weak to do anything.

"When I was looking at your mark, I grabbed some of your hair. Passed it off to my friend. Right now, we're proving your worth. Then you'll be our leverage."

"And you're telling me you've evil plan… why?" That wasn't really the question that Hope wanted to ask, but that's what slipped out first.

"Oh, I just need it to look like we're having a chat. You're about to fall unconscious anyway." As if on queue, Hope collapsed. A warlock was behind her to catch her and swing her up into his arms.

"Looks like our friend can't hold her alcohol! Come on." Sophie spoke loudly to the warlock and they quickly left, with Hope limp in the warlock's arms.

* * *

"Jane-Anne Devereaux! Give it up for Jane-Anne! Come on, let's hear it!" Marcel was good at getting his men worked up. They surrounded the witch like a pack of hungry wolves. Klaus stood beside Marcel, watching the whole thing going down. Marcel twirled the thin tree branch in his hand.

"Jane-Anne Devereaux, you have been accused of the practice of witchcraft beyond the bounds of the rules set forth and enforced by me. How do you plead?" Marcel glanced at Klaus.

"Was that convincing? I studied law back in the fifties. Hold that thought." He turned back to Jane-Anne. "Seriously, Jane, tick-tock. You know the drill. How do you plead?"

"I didn't do anything." Jane-Anne told him tonelessly, as if she'd already accepted her fate. The crowd around her laughed.

"That's a lie. You know it, I know it and you hate that I know it. It drives you witches crazy that I'm aware of your every move. That you can't do magic in this town without getting caught. So why don't we just cut to the chase, huh? You tell me what magic you were brewing. I mean, you tell me, I'll grant you leniency. Hey, I am, after all, a merciful man."

Jane-Anne just scoffed. _Like I'm going to tell him about that girl. She's our last chance,_ she thought. So she just shook her head at Marcel.

"Rot in hell, monster." A rumble went through the crowd and Marcel's smile faded somewhat.

"I'll tell you what; I'll give you one more chance…" Marcel flicked out the branch so fast that it slit open Jane-Anne's throat. She gagged, her hands shooting up in a feeble attempt to stop the blood rushing out and then collapsed, dead.

"Or not."

* * *

Hope woke up with a headache and the urge to murder someone. She tried to move, but found she was chained to a wall. Blinking, her vision cleared and she saw she was in a mausoleum, lit up with candles, as if that made the place any less creepy. She was alone, which meant they didn't think she was much of a threat.

She rolled her shoulders and wrapped the chains around her wrists to get a better grip on them. Then she started yanking on them, trying to get them out of the wall.

"That's not gonna work." Hope jumped and craned her neck to see Sophie standing in the doorway.

"You drugged me?!" Hope yelled at her. Sophie strode forward, calm as ever. Hope got a better grip on the chains, pressing herself against the wall.

"You're our leverage."

"Leverage over what? Or who? No one cares about me."

"A certain group people will."

"Great. You're just a lunatic!" Hope spat out. Sophie didn't seem fazed by this; she stood directly in front of Hope now, no fear in her eyes.

"You should me thanking me and my sister!"

"For what? Kidnapping me? Where is this dear sister of yours? I owe her a good kick in the teeth!"

"She's dead. She died so that we could do a spell to confirm the one thing that makes you valuable." Sophie hissed. Hope stared at her. _Spell._ The word echoed in her head. She knew magic. One of her previous foster mothers taught her the basics, claiming it was her to duty to make sure she didn't do something stupid that would end with the entire witch community in danger. So Hope knew that spells were powerful things and that one that resulted in death was even worse.

"And what did it confirm?" Hope asked, trying to sound braver than she was.

"Who your father is." Sophie seemed to enjoy the look of utter shock on Hope's face, because she smirked and continued on: "His name is Niklaus Mikaelson. You're new to the supernatural world, so I'll fill you in. He's the worst. The monster that monsters are afraid of. His protégée is the one running this town, killing witches that practice magic. We can't do the simplest of spells without his vampires raining down on us!" Sophie's voice steadily rose to a yell.

"May I suggest moving?" Hope asked, sounding calmer than she felt.

"We shouldn't have to leave our own home!"

"Your sister just died to do a spell that will supposedly give you leverage to take out this vampire running the city! Home is worth nothing without your family!"

"How would you know anything about family?" That was like a slap in the face for hope and Sophie knew it. _My father. Niklaus Mikaelson. A monster._ The thought overrode any other conscious thoughts in her mind. She had to admit, Hope Mikaelson had a nice ring to it, but she was committed to the whole idea. _They're wrong. They made a mistake._ She closed her eyes, thinking hard.

First things first, she had to get out. Forget New Orleans and the bayou and her stupid birthmark. She would find her family some other way. Preferably a way that wouldn't end with her being captured by psychotic witches.

But first…

She lifted herself up on the chains and kicked out. Sophie didn't have time to move out of the way of her foot. She stumbled back, her hand flying up to her bleeding nose. She recovered slowly, her head rising so she could look at Hope again. Hope looked pleased with herself.

That pleased look was promptly slapped off her face by Sophie. While Hope grimaced and tried not to cry out from the sharp blow, Sophie calmed herself down.

"I'll leave you to think. It'll be a while before we're ready to use you." Sophie started to stomp out, but she stopped in the doorway, turning back to Hope.

"Oh, and welcome to New Orleans." With that, Sophie was gone. Hope hung by her chains and, finally, let out the scream she'd been holding in. She was a prisoner. She was leverage. Going to New Orleans had been a mistake. She was going to die in a cemetery, no less.

Hope swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut. Her true father didn't matter. The witches and their problem with the vampires didn't matter. Her life mattered. And that was something she wasn't going to let go without a fight.

* * *

"Bring her out!" Hope had no idea how much later the shout from Sophie came. It could have been hours, it could have been days. Time didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that someone was coming in to get her.

Two warlocks walked into the mausoleum. They didn't even see the chain coming. It slapped one of them across the face and he fell to the floor. Hope wrapped the chain around the throat of the second, strangling him.

"Next time, don't imprison someone that has magic." She let his unconscious body drop to the ground and then high-tailed it out of the mausoleum. She barely made it two steps before pain erupted in her head again. She dropped to her knees, biting back a scream. The warlocks and witches surrounded her, moving to grab her.

The pain faded as two warlocks managed to grab a hold of her and haul her to her feet. She kicked and struggled as they dragged her around a corner, but they had a good grip. Around the corner, Sophie was waiting, with a man that Hope had never seen before. He didn't look like the monster to end all monsters, so Hope figured that this wasn't her father.

" _This_ is Klaus's daughter." Sophie told her, waving with her hand.

"And you've held her here against her will?" The man asked calmly, his eyes never leaving Hope.

"She's our leverage. Don't worry, I have a feeling she's done quite a number on some of my people too." Sophie told him angrily. Hope looked at the two warlocks holding onto her arms; they weren't paying much attention to her beyond holding her there. _Idiots,_ she thought, somewhat smugly.

She kicked out, catching one in the back of the knee. He let her arm go as he fell to the ground and she elbowed him in the face for good measure. Hope kicked up and caught the other warlock in the chin. As he fell towards the ground, she got him in some kind of wrestler's hold, legs wrapped around his chest and throat, arm angled back at a position that made it easy to dislocate.

Elijah watched in curiosity and more than a little surprise. Sophie, however, just seemed annoyed and angry.

"Hey, hey!" She cried, like that was going to make Hope stop. Her 'people' swarmed forward, but the Elijah blurred over to Hope and they all stopped, waiting wearily.

"Let him go." He told her sternly. Hope looked at him.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan. Then they'll kill me."

"I give you my word; I will not allow that to happen." He seemed fairly trustworthy, but the only thing that really sunk in was that she was surrounded and they were about to brain-pain her again. She snapped the warlock's arm back and he let out a scream. Then she let him go.

Elijah took her arm to help her to her feet, but she brushed him off and stood up by herself, glaring at Sophie as the other warlocks slowly backed up, most likely scared of Elijah. Hope stuck close to his side.

"I would like to speak to her alone." Elijah told Sophie. She nodded, somewhat reluctantly, and motioned towards the nearest mausoleum. Elijah waved Hope ahead of him and she hurried inside. As Elijah followed her, Sophie called after him:

"She doesn't leave until I say!"


	2. Leverage

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

When Elijah got into the mausoleum, Hope was already pacing, arms folded tightly across her chest.

"So is this where you interrogate me about my parentage? I don't know any more than you do." She told him. He sat down on a bench and motioned to the seat next to him. Hope hesitated, but then went and took a seat as well, though she kept to the far end of the bench, away from him.

"How long have they kept you here?" He questioned.

"Who knows? Haven't seen a clock or a calendar recently." There was an underlying bitterness in her tone, which Elijah didn't miss.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"You're not from New Orleans, originally?"

"I have no clue where I was born. I was found in a crashed car with my dead mother outside of the city, if that counts. Are we done with the twenty questions now?" Hope snarled.

"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere, something she wasn't used to. Still, she avoided looking at him as he continued talking.

"Am I to assume you know of the supernatural world?"

"Witches, werewolves, vampires, oh my? Yeah, I got the gist of it." Hope agreed.

"My family was the first vampires to walk the earth, the Originals. My brother, your father-."

"Can we be careful when we throw around that word? The witches don't seem that smart to me, so they probably screwed something up." She interrupted quickly.

"On the contrary, they seem very certain of this."

"And you? You're just going to go along with it?"

"The witches of New Orleans are very lethal when aggravated and they know their spells. I do not believe they would mess up something as serious as this."

"But it's impossible. If you and your brother are vampires, Originals, whatever you want to call yourselves, then you're dead. Dead people can't have kids, right?" The bitterness was gone, now Elijah could sense panic. He watched as closely as she watched him, taking in every detail of her appearance.

She had dark hair, a few shades lighter than his own, hanging past her shoulders in loose, slightly tangled, waves. Her eyes were brown, not the blue that his brother had. She was tall, probably only standing a few inches shorter than Elijah himself. Since she only wore shorts and a loose tank top, he could get a good look at her skin. There was no vampire-paleness to be seen; she was tanned. Whoever her mother was, the girl had obviously taken after her.

"Do you know your mother's name?"

"What? No. To be fair, the fact that she was my mother was an assumption. She was early twenties back when I was a baby, had all kinds of baby stuff and her own stuff in the car. Could've been a crazy aunt that was kidnapping me, but probably my mother." She explained in a rush, like she wanted to get away from the subject as soon as possible, so her solution was to give Elijah all the details she knew.

"You're sixteen, you said?"

"Yeah."

"So she would be in her late thirties or early forties now, correct?"

"Probably. Can we go back to the part where dead people can't have kids?" Hope pleaded.

"My brother is not entirely a vampire."

"Huh?" With any other person, that single word would have made them sound dumb. Not with her. Elijah could tell she was smart. She was determined. She would fight every single one of the witches before she let them keep her there. That part of her, at least, reminded him of Klaus.

"He is what we call a Hybrid. He was born a werewolf, before our mother cursed us to this existence. Perhaps it would be easier to show you than explain. May I?" He reached for her head and she jerked back.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you know what compulsion is?"

"A type of mind control that vampires do, right? I would prefer not to get mind-controlled, for the record."

"This will not be forcing you do anything, it's letting me into your head so I can show you how your birth is possible." Still, she hesitated. Finally, she leaned forward.

"Fine, but if I wake up running down Bourbon Street naked, I will never speak to you again."

"Fair enough." Elijah agreed, biting back a chuckle. He put his hands on either side of her head. Instantly, memories surged through her. Memories of Elijah with his siblings, their mother turning them into vampires, Klaus being a werewolf-vampire hybrid, the first of his kind. She saw his mission to free himself from the curse that kept his werewolf side dominant, using Katherine Pierce to do it, but learning after she died and became a vampire that he needed her human blood to make more hybrids. Elijah stopped the compulsion as they reached the memory of Klaus finding Elena Gilbert, a human doppelganger in Mystic Falls.

Hope couldn't help but stare at him for a moment.

"Your brother's nuts."

"Yes, we've called him so in the past. Well, perhaps not that exact word…" Elijah smiled at her.

"Well, if you're going to tell me your whole life story, you should know my name. I'm Hope." She held out her hand and Elijah shook it.

"Elijah Mikaelson. Hope is a very nice name." She'd heard that before, but mostly only from old people. _Of course,_ she thought to herself, _he is an old person, older than you've ever met before._

"Thanks. And imagine, if Klaus had broken the curse at another time, you could be sitting here with a pregnant woman instead." Hope said. She was still trying to wrap her head around the situation, that she was actually the daughter of a powerful hybrid. When she'd gone to New Orleans for answers, she never expected an answer like that.

"That would be interesting." Elijah agreed, humoring her.

"Between you and me, I'm much more fun than a pregnant woman."

"Undoubtedly." Elijah agreed again, smiling. Hope sucked in a deep breath. She needed to focus on the situation at hand.

"So, let me get this straight, your brother, my-." She stopped herself. _Don't say the 'f' word, Hope,_ she scolded. She took a breath and continued: "broke this werewolf curse a long time ago and has hunted doppelgangers to make his special hybrids… Why has his band of hybrids taken over the world, or at least the supernatural one? Granted, I'm no expert on the supernatural, but I haven't heard about any hybrids running around."

"There is only one left, besides himself. He slaughtered the rest of them when they tried to kill him."

"Can't see why. I mean, he sounds like such a gentle, charming guy." Hope said, putting as much sarcasm into her voice as possible, which was a lot.

"Hardly." Elijah didn't seem to recognize the sarcasm in her voice. "But you must understand. Our father hunted him, hunted us, for centuries. Every time we found a moment of happiness, we were forced to flee. Even here, in New Orleans, where we were happiest of all. Not long ago, Niklaus finally defeated our father. I thought this would make him happy… He was angrier than ever."

"Sounds like he needs some therapy."

"Yes, however, I fear the therapist would not survive the session." Elijah smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. But the smile quickly faded and she was back to business.

"The witches are keeping me here against my will. Can't you use your vampire powers to get me out of here?" She pleaded.

"The witches will not allow that." At once, Elijah knew he had said exactly the wrong thing. Hope jumped up from the bench, her sneakers kicking up dirt on the floor.

"I don't give a crap what they'll allow. I have been drugged, chained up, slapped around and starved for who knows how long and I can't even order a pizza right now! Their happiness is not a concern for me." The candles flickered dangerously and Elijah could clearly see that she was angry, even angrier than when the warlocks had dragged her out to meet him in the first place.

"I will get you out of here, I promise you that. But first, calm down." The candles returned to normal. Hope sat back down on the bench, running her fingers through her tangled hair.

"Please… just… I can't stay here." She mumbled. Elijah looked at her, as if seeing for the first time how young she really was. Sophie walked into the mausoleum and Elijah knew from the look on her face that she had been standing outside listening to them for a while.

"I'm glad you want to get her out of here, Elijah, because we need your help." Elijah looked between Sophie and Hope; Hope had already gotten up from the bench and stepped back to put some distance between them.

"What, precisely, is it that you want and what does it have to do with this young woman?" _Young woman, not kid,_ Hope thought, _I like him better by the minute._

"We want to run Marcel and his vampires out of town. Klaus is the key. Everything Marcel knows about being a vampire, he learned from Klaus. Marcel trusts him, looks up to him, and he won't see the betrayal coming." Sophie explained, her voice rising steadily.

"Did you practice that in a mirror?" Hope scoffed. Elijah raised his hand, motioning for her to be silent. She shot him a look, folding her arms across her chest again, like a pouting child.

"Yes, well, as I'm sure you're aware; my brother Niklaus doesn't like to be told what to do."

"That's why I brought you here. Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. This mark-." Sophie started forward, snatching Hope by the arm. Elijah sped forward, grabbing Sophie's wrist. She released Hope, motioning wordlessly to her shoulder. Hope swallowed hard.

"I have no idea why this stupid birthmark is so important to everyone!" She complained halfheartedly, already pulling her hair aside and turning so Elijah could have a look at it.

"That mark," Sophie continued, stepping back from Hope, "is the mark of werewolf royalty, from the same werewolf pack he drove out. I doubt he'd want a werewolf princess with witch abilities running around the quarter. Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family."

"That sounds remarkably like blackmail." Elijah noted.

"Like I said, I'm desperate."

"Well, then, I have my work cut out for me, don't I?" Elijah asked rhetorically. He headed for the door, but then stopped and turned back.

"Oh, and Sophie? Get the nice girl a pizza." With that, he disappeared. Sophie looked at Hope, who smiled smugly. Sophie hurried out of the mausoleum and the door slammed shut behind her. There was an audible click. Hope sprinted forward and slammed into the door. It held steady.

"Sophie!" She screamed. No answer, not that she expected one. She snarled under her breath and sat down, hoping that Sophie was at least going to listen to Elijah and get her some food.

* * *

Klaus and Elijah walked into cemetery and Sophie led them into a mausoleum, explaining the situation. By the end of her explanation, Klaus was shouting.

"No. It's impossible!"

"I said the same thing myself." Elijah said calmly.

"This is a lie. You are all lying. Vampires cannot procreate."

"But werewolves can. Magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf. You're the Original hybrid, the first of your kind. That girl is one of nature's loopholes." Sophie explained.

"Where is the girl?" Elijah interjected.

"Bring here in!" Sophie called out somewhat hesitantly. She looked at Elijah. "And we fed her, for the record." She didn't seem happy about it either.

Two warlocks shoved Hope inside and she stumbled a few steps, knocked off balance by the shove. Elijah held out an arm in case she fell, but she regained her balance on her own. Her clothes were singed and smelled strongly of smoke.

"What happened?" Elijah demanded.

"She has anger issues and we left her with candles. Almost burned herself alive. Which is not our fault." Sophie added quickly, looking annoyed.

"Hey, you're the one that locked the door behind me!" Hope shot back. For the first time, she seemed to notice that Klaus was in the room. She paled, but squared her jaw and stood up straighter.

"This is some kind of trick. She's just a witch. She knows I am not her father. Admit it!" Klaus screamed at her. Elijah started to protest, but Hope beat him to it.

"Hey, I've been held captive in a freaking cemetery! I was chained up! They stole my hair to do some witchy voodoo on me! And I don't like people touching my hair! Don't you think I would have fessed up if I had a clue who my father was! You're not exactly daddy-material, so trust me, I am not happy with this particular turn of events either!" Hope stopped yelling to catch her breath. Klaus seemed to be done with his own screaming, because he just stared at her in a mixture of shock and anger. Elijah tried to recall the last person that could stand there and scream at him without getting their neck snapped or their heart ripped out and was coming up empty. He edged forward and put his arm on Hope's shoulder. She got the message without him saying a word and took a few steps back, out of Klaus's reach.

"My sister gave her life to perform the spell she needed to confirm that this girl is your daughter! Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the life of that girl is now controlled by us. We can keep them safe or we can kill them. If you don't help us take down Marcel, so help me, she won't live long enough to celebrate her next birthday!" Sophie yelled.

"Excuse me?" Hope was getting angry again and more than a little scared, though she would never admit that. Candles flared up around them. No one paid attention.

"Enough of this! If you want Marcel dead, he's dead. I'll do it myself." Elijah told them.

"No, we can't, not yet. We have a clear plan that we need to follow and there are rules!" Sophie protested.

"How dare you command me, _threaten me_ , with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses. This is a pathetic deception. I won't hear any more lies!"

"Niklaus!" Elijah yelled at him and it caught Klaus's attention. Elijah took Hope by the wrist and spun her around, pulling her hair back to show him the mark.

"This is the mark of a werewolf. She has witch abilities," He motioned towards the still flickering candles, "and the witches would not be treating her like this if she was one of their own. When were you born?" His voice was still harsh when he spoke to Hope, an unfortunate side-effect of his angry towards his brother. Hope jerked out of his grip, not happy about him touching her or her hair.

"1995! Why does it matter? He obviously doesn't believe us!" She yelled. Klaus stared at her, as if trying to see something in her face that would prove without a shadow of a doubt she was his daughter. If he saw anything, he didn't show it. After a moment, he looked at Sophie and spoke calmly.

"Kill her. What do I care?" He stomped out, leaving Hope staring after him in shock.

"Screw this. I'm gone." She started to run, but the two warlocks standing guard caught her by the arms, as if they hadn't learned their lesson from the last time she'd beaten them up. She brought her knee up into the stomach of one of them, but Elijah was already hauling her back.

"Let me go!" There was panic in her voice; she was desperate now.

"No one touches this girl." Elijah told Sophie sternly. She looked at him, as if challenging him to give her a reason to listen to him.

"I'll fix this." He promised.

"Don't leave me here." Hope pleaded.

"She comes with me." Elijah added. Sophie hesitated but then put on her brave face again.

"Fine. But know that if you don't bring her back, I can easily end her, no matter where she is." Elijah made no comment; he simply pushed Hope ahead of him. She ran out of the mausoleum full blast and headed for the cemetery gate. With vampire speed, he got in front of her and caught her arm. With no other choice, she stopped.

"I am not going back there." She cried.

"Stay with me."

"Would you like a leash?" She demanded, only halfway sarcastic.

"Is that necessary?" He asked. She didn't say anything. He took her by the shoulders and vamp-sped them the way Klaus had gone. He stopped at the corner of a street; Klaus was sitting on a park bench a few yards away. Elijah motioned for Hope to stay where she was, which didn't appear to be a problem. She looked sick from the sudden movement and sank to the ground, head between her knees.

Elijah walked towards his brother.

"Niklaus."

"It's a trick, Elijah." Klaus was already on his feet again to face his brother.

"No, brother. It's gift. It's your chance… It's _our_ chance." Elijah chose his words carefully. He knew it would take very little to set Klaus off and he also knew that Hope wasn't out of earshot; she was probably listening very closely and he couldn't blame her for it. He felt sorry for her and the way that Klaus had acted hadn't helped anything.

"To what?" Klaus scoffed.

"To start over. Take back everything we lost, everything that was taken from us. Niklaus, our own parents came to despise us. Our family was ruined, we were ruined. And since then, all that you have ever wanted, all that _we_ have ever wanted was a family."

"I will not be manipulated." Klaus turned away, but Elijah vamp-speed around him to block his way.

"So they're manipulating you. So what? With them, this girl, your _child,_ will survive."

"I'm gonna kill every last one of them." Klaus shoved Elijah back and turned away, but found Elijah blocking his way once again.

"And then what? Then you return to Mystic Falls to resume your life as the hated one, as the evil hybrid? Is it so important to you that people quake with fear at the sound of your name?"

"People quake with fear because I have the power to make them afraid. What will this child offer me? Will it guarantee me power?"

" _She,_ Niklaus. She is not an 'it'." Elijah told him sternly.

"It. She. The witch. The baby wolf. Call it what you want. It will not bring me power!"

"Family _is_ power, Niklaus. Love, loyalty, that's power. This is what we swore to one another a thousand years ago, before life tore away what little humanity you had left, before ego, before anger, before paranoia created in this person before me someone I can barely even recognize as my own brother. This is _us_ , the Original family, and we remain together, always and forever. I am asking you to stay here. I will help you and I will stand by you. I will be your brother. We will build a home here together. So save this girl. Save your child." Elijah put his hand on Klaus's shoulder. Klaus brought up his own hand to Elijah's neck in a brotherly gesture. Elijah started to smile, but Klaus's next word ruined it:

"No."


	3. Her Father's Daughter

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Elijah had to practically drag Hope back towards the cemetery with him.

"I am not going back there! They'll kill me!"

"I will not allow them to kill you."

"Well, you also said that you'd fix the entire situation and you haven't done that either, so excuse me if I don't believe you!" She cried. Elijah stopped; they were nearing the cemetery gate and she was getting more desperate by the minute. She seemed relieved that he'd stopped, trying to catch her breath. Elijah had realized how fast he'd been walking; she was still exhausted from trying to keep up with him.

"No matter what my brother has said, you are family. I will not allow them to harm you."

"You know, I'm over the whole find-my-family thing." She told him, raking a hand through her hair. Hope was in a particularly foul mood after hearing Klaus's words about her, especially when he called her an 'it' and a 'baby wolf'. Elijah was certain that the first chance she got, she'd be running from New Orleans without looking back.

"Wait here." It wasn't exactly an order, but it wasn't an offer either. Hope nodded and sunk to the grass. Elijah continued on, quickly making his way back to Sophie. She was talking to another witch when he found her and he leaned against the doorframe of the mausoleum, waiting and listening.

"Marcel and his vampires are out of control. Something had to be done." Sophie was arguing.

"And the solution is to bring in more vampires?

"These aren't just any vampires, Agnes. They're the Originals."

"What makes you think you can control the hybrid?"

"She can't. I'm not entirely certain that I can, either." Elijah told them. Sophie looked at him.

"Where's the girl?"

"She's waiting for me outside. That is not any of your concern. Now that your coven has drawn his ire, I have a question: What prevents my brother from murdering you instead of cooperating?" Elijah questioned. Sophie held up a needle and showed it to Elijah. Then she stabbed it into her palm.

Elijah watched her, unimpressed. It took less than a minute, however, before Hope ran into the doorway of the mausoleum, blood dripping off her hand.

"What did you do?!" She demanded. Elijah grabbed her hand, running his hand over where the wound should have been. It was already healed, there was just excess blood.

"Werewolf. I heal. Doesn't mean I like it. What did you do to me?" Hope turned her attention back to Sophie.

"The spell my sister performed, the one that got her killed? It didn't just confirm her parentage. It linked me to Hope. So anything that happens to me happens to her, which means her life is in my hands. Klaus may not care about his own child, but its very clear what it already means to you. If I have to hurt Hope, or worse, to ensure that I have your attention, I will."

"You would dare threaten an Original?" Elijah seemed amused.

"I have nothing to lose." The seriousness in her tone wasn't lost on Elijah; his amusement disappeared. "You have until midnight to get Klaus to change his mind."

* * *

Hope had spent more time than she cared to admit waiting for Elijah. He was talking to one of Marcel's men and she wasn't allowed anywhere near them. So she sat like a good little girl on a bench, waiting and seething. As he walked back towards her, he was talking on his phone.

"He's willing to give up everything." He was saying. There was a pause as he listened to whoever was on the other end.

"I already see it. He's spiraling. He's lashing out in blind rage. You know, the last time I saw him like this it lasted two hundred years."

"Can the baby wolf hear what's going on?" Hope asked, raising her hand like she was in class. Elijah glanced at her and smiled weakly at her, but then turned his attention back to the phone. Hope leaned back against the bench with a huff.

"He was so close. When he saw Hope, I could see it in his eyes. He... he wanted... he could almost taste happiness. And now his temper has destroyed it. Even if I was to return him to sanity, he just lost Marcel's trust and I am running out of time to save Hope."

"Now the baby wolf would really like to hear what's going!" Hope put in halfheartedly.

"Say what you will about Niklaus, but on my life I'm not letting anything happen to that girl." Elijah was arguing with the woman on the other end of the phone. He pulled the phone away from his ear and sighed, shoving it back in his pocket. Whoever he was talking to had hung up on him.

"Can you talk now?" Hope asked, annoyed.

"Niklaus has made it clear he and Marcel are enemies." Elijah explained.

"Even though the witches wanted him to play off Marcel's trust?"

"Yes."

"He really doesn't care about me." There was nothing in Hope's voice that said she was upset; she was simply stating a fact. Elijah sat down next to her.

"We're running out of time. And why is it midnight? I am not Cinderella." Hope complained.

"Head back to the cemetery. I'll meet you there." Elijah told her, standing up again. Hope stayed sitting down.

"Why do I have to walk to my death alone?"

"I'm going to see if I can convince the witches to keep you alive another way."

"By killing them all?" Her tone was too hopeful for Elijah's taste; there was more Klaus in her than he'd originally thought.

"By giving them something else they want. I'll meet you there." He insisted. With no other choice, Hope huffed and pushed herself to her feet. Elijah started off, looking over his shoulder to make sure she was walking in the direction of the cemetery. She was. He turned around and picked up the pace.

Hope glanced over her shoulder; he was halfway down the street, paying her no attention. She turned and ran around a corner, turning her back on the direction of the cemetery.

* * *

Klaus held a bottle in his hand as he sat on a bench by the curb. Elijah walked up behind him and he grimaced, taking another swig from the bottle.

"Have I not made clear my desire to be left alone?"

"Oh, you demand to be left alone at least once a decade. Your words have ceased to have impact." Klaus threw the bottle and it smashed against the ground in a shower of alcohol and glass. He stood up and turned towards Elijah to shout at him.

"Why must you keep harping on about that girl? It's probably dead already." Klaus wasn't sure exactly what sent him off, perhaps his use of the word 'it' or a million other things he'd done that night, but he did know that he'd pushed Elijah too far. Elijah vampire-sped over to him and grabbed him by the throat.

"You will not walk away from this!"

"Let. Me. Go. "

"I will not!" Elijah threw Klaus against the floor in the closed open-air café before grabbed him up again, not letting go of him that time.

"Don't make me say it again." Klaus threatened.

"I will _not_ let go. I will _never_ let go." Klaus threw Elijah against an iron-rod fence. Elijah stood up and took one of the rods, heading towards Klaus.

"Even if I have to spend eternity saving you from your own stubborn, petulant, vile self..." Elijah sped forward and hit Klaus with the rod. "If I have to beat you as father used to beat you, to remind you of your own humanity to care about anything." Elijah hit him again and then went for another. Klaus grabbed the rod and hit Elijah with him, sending him flying a few yards back. Elijah hit the ground and stayed down.

Klaus was breathing heavily. He threw the rod to the ground and walked over to Elijah. Before he could say anything, a fist impacted with his jaw from his right. He stumbled back and stared at Hope.

"Are we all done now?" She demanded. Klaus darted forward, holding her by the throat. Elijah jumped up.

"Niklaus-!"

"You're beyond pathetic, Elijah." Klaus growled, tightening his grip on Hope's throat.

"Who is more pathetic? The one who sees hope to make his family whole, or the coward who only see the world through his own fear? Niklaus, release her." Elijah ordered.

"I haven't cared about anything for centuries. Why on earth do you?"

"Can you discuss this without me dying over here?" Hope choked out, trying to push Klaus away from her. Klaus looked at her as if remembering he was choking her to death. He released her with a sound of disgust and she collapsed on the concrete. Elijah looked at her but then turned to Klaus again.

"Because I failed you. Because the first time our father laid a hand on you, I should have struck him dead. I made a promise to you: always, forever, family above all." Klaus just laughed.

"You are a sentimental fool."

"Perhaps. But I've lasted this long in spite of it, haven't I?" Elijah leaned over Hope. She had a gash on her forehead from hitting the concrete. As she sat up, the gash healed before their eyes. Klaus stared and even Elijah looked surprised. Hope's hand went up to feel where the wound had been.

"Werewolves heal."

"Not that fast." Elijah protested.

"You gave her vampire blood-." Klaus started in an accusing tone.

"I did not." Elijah interrupted. Without another word, Klaus swallowed hard and walked away. Elijah helped Hope to her feet again and Hope shook her head, waves of brown hair falling into her face.

"If this is how siblings act, I'm glad I'm an only child." She mumbled. Elijah looked around. Klaus was sitting on the bench he'd sat at before, staring at his hands. Elijah walked over to him and sat down next to him. Hope ventured towards them, but kept her distance.

"This town was my home once, and in my absence, Marcel has gotten everything that I ever wanted. Power, loyalty, family. I made him in my image, and he has bettered me. I want what he has. I want it back. I wanna be king." Klaus told him.

"So is that all this girl means to you? A grab for power?"

"What does it mean to you?"

"I think this girl could offer you the one thing that you've never believed you had."

"And what's that?"

"The unconditional love of family." There was a pause and then Klaus looked at him.

"Tell Sophie Devereaux we have a deal."

"You mean she's not going to kill me because you're a jerk?" Hope spoke up. Klaus avoided looking at her, so Elijah turned towards her.

"You'll be fine." He promised. He stood up, straightening his suit jacket.

"I'll talk to Sophie. In the mean time, Niklaus, you will take her to a safe place. And get her some more clothes." Elijah glanced over Hope's burned, dirty clothes. This time, Klaus did glance at her. Elijah walked away and Hope stood there awkwardly, shifting her weight to her other foot.

With a sigh, Klaus stood up and motioned lazily at her.

"Come on." She edged forward, still keeping her distance as he led her through the streets.

* * *

By sunrise, Klaus had taken Hope to a mansion-like house on the edge of town and left her to explore, mumbling something about her having her choice of bedrooms. She explored the second-floor, a few shopping bags looped through her arms. She'd already amused him by her way of shopping. He had obviously expected to be there for hours while she tried things on and decided what she liked and didn't like, but she had simply found the area with her size clothing and grabbed a few outfits worth of clothes without any concern for what it looked like.

She nudged open a door at the top of the stairs and looked inside. As she continued through the hallway, it seemed there nothing but bedrooms. She found one towards the back of the hallway that seemed more isolated than the rest. She nudged the door shut behind her and dumped her shopping bags on the bed.

She dug into her pocket and pulled out the money Klaus had given her. He had obviously given it to her to help avoid further conversations. She wasn't going to have to go to him asking for anything. Like she would have in the first place… Still, she was never one to turn down money.

Hope went over to the bedside table and pulled open the drawer. It was empty, so she tossed the money inside and shut it again. Something told her she wasn't going to be leaving the house anytime soon anyway. She grabbed some clothes from one of the bags and headed into the private bathroom.

When she emerged from the shower and gotten dressed in new jeans and a tank top, she ventured out of the bedroom. She slowly looked through the house, but it appeared Klaus was an expert at avoiding her or he really had left the house.

She ended up in the living room, looking around. There were sheets on everything; it looked like nothing had been touched in years. She ripped a sheet off a table and coughed because of the dust.

"Are you alright?" Elijah asked from the doorway. She looked at him and shrugged.

"Just dust. This place is ancient."

"Yes, it should serve our purposes. It's a sanctuary from our business in the Quarter. Right now, you are the most important person in this family. You need a good home. So I'm curious... in all this time, has anyone asked you how you feel?"

"About being leverage over a psychopath hybrid to run a vampire king out of town so that the witches can practice magic freely? Not too great." She told him.

"About having a family." He corrected.

"Never had one. It's a new and exciting experience. And Klaus is avoiding me." She added, shrugging like it didn't really matter to her.

"My brother is in a mood."

"I noticed."

"Either way, I will protect you from this family's enemies; you have my word on that." He promised. Klaus appeared behind her.

"And noble Elijah always keeps his word."

"Is it done?" Elijah asked him.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Your underhanded deal worked quite well. Marcel was only too happy to accept my blood even as he accepted my heartfelt apologies. His man, Thierry, yet lives and I remain a welcome guest in the French Quarter. My only concern now is this coven of impudent witches."

"I believe them to be honorable. They did release Hope to me. Although, they haven't been entirely forthcoming. Marcel obviously has something that they need. They don't want him dead. There must be a reason why." Elijah explained.

"Great. Now we have a mystery. So which one of you wants to play Scooby Doo?" Hope asked sarcastically, sitting on the edge of the table she uncovered.

"You'll welcome to the role, Baby Wolf. As long as you investigate from here." Klaus told her.

"So I'm a prisoner here now?"

"Call it what you're want. You're not leaving." Klaus explained. Hope narrowed her eyes at him and then strode past him.

"Well, you know where to find me when you want to know my name!"

* * *

Hope slept through most of the day, waking up as moonlight streamed through the window. She lied in bed, debating going back to sleep. But after a few minutes, it was clear to her that she was going back to sleep. She sat up, kicking the covers off of her and climbing out of bed.

The house was mostly dark as she ventured through it, but the light was on in the study off from the living room. _Elijah,_ she thought. She couldn't imagine Klaus in a study. She knocked on the door and then opened it. To her surprise, it was actually Klaus, who looked up at her.

"Where's Elijah?"

"Lovely to see you too."

"Where's Elijah?" She repeated.

"He's gone off, some sort of business he had."

"Yeah, that's likely." Hope gave him a weird look and left the room.


	4. Captive Princess

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

"I gave you clear orders." Klaus reminded her, following Hope down the gravel-paced street.

"Yeah, I heard those. But they were stupid, so I've elected to ignore them." Hope announced. Klaus made an annoyed sound behind her.

"Hope-."

"Stay in the house, baby wolf. Never leave this house, baby wolf." She mocked him, putting on a horrible British accent. Klaus sped in front of her, blocking her. She looked at him and tried to step around him, but he blocked her again.

"I can't have you wandering about when there are people out to get me."

"I almost thought cared about me there. Nice try." Hope tried to side-step around him again, but found herself blocked again.

"Get back in the house."

"Nice commanding voice, very stern. Too bad I don't care." Hope pushed past him, shouldering him aside as she kept walking. Klaus caught her arm and spun her back around.

"What do I have to do to get you back in the house?" He demanded.

"Are you lowering herself to bribery, Klaus?" Hope pretended to look shocked and apparently that was the last straw for Klaus. He dragged her by the arm back towards the house. She flicked her hand and Klaus flew away from her, landing hard and rolling in the dirt.

"Don't touch me!" She brushed off her sleeve, like his touch had tainted. Klaus was already on his feet. He sped back over to her, angrier than before. She was talking before he even got a word out.

"I am done playing your little prisoner! I can handle a walk outside without tripping, breaking my neck and dying! I am getting some fresh air. I am not going to sit in that old house and watch another Friends rerun while you make your diabolical plans! I'm done!" She stopped, waiting for his response. There was a moment of silence.

"You're not going into the city."

"I didn't say I wanted to go into the city, I said I wanted some fresh air."

"We have a backyard."

"What am I in your eyes? A dog? No, I'm just an 'it', right?" Hope demanded. The wind picked up and Klaus doubted it was completely natural. He glanced around and she did too. Slowly, the wind disappeared. Klaus turned back to her.

She was a hint paler than when he'd met her, a side-effect of staying inside for the past week and a half. She was angry, but she was also exhausted from fighting with him at every turn. Klaus was used to being thrown around by now and she wasn't afraid of the hybrid. If she was anyone else, he would have killed her long ago.

"I'm willing to upgrade your status to 'she'." He told her.

"Oh, I'm honored." She rolled her eyes. Klaus took her by the wrist and turned her around so she was facing the opposite direction of the house.

"Do I get a longer leash now?" Hope asked, only halfway joking. His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at it.

"Stay within my sight." He commanded before turning away to answer his phone: "Marcel! How goes the quarter?"

" _Klaus, my man! You up for a drink?_ " Klaus cast a glance at Hope, who was sitting on the curb.

"Well, I'm never one to turn down a drink. Name the time and place." As he absentmindedly listened to Marcel talking about the 'greatest bar he'd ever drank at', he watched Hope. She wasn't walking around, she wasn't doing anything crazy or stupid, she was just sitting there, breathing deeply and rubbing her hands together.

"I'll be there momentarily." Klaus announced to Marcel. Marcel voiced his excitement and then hung up. Klaus headed over to Hope.

"Is my time up?" She asked without looking at him. He sat down on the curb next to her.

"I have to go drink with Marcel."

"Sounds awful." Hope said dryly.

"You have to stay here."

"What a surprise."

"Come on." Klaus stood up again, waiting for her to do the same. She stayed sitting down.

"I don't want to go back to that house."

"What's wrong with the house?"

"It feels like a dungeon and I get a bad vibe from it."

"You get a bad vibe from it?" Klaus echoed, scoffing.

"Magic vibe. You did some awful there, probably more than one thing." Hope explained. _Well, she's not wrong,_ Klaus thought to himself.

"Fine, stay here like a woman awaiting cheap company. I have to go change. Someone's gotten my clothes dirty." He motioned towards his shirt and pants and then walked back into the house.

By the time he came back from his bedroom, Hope was walking through the front door. He tried not to look relieved; he hadn't wanted to have to go out after her before he left to meet Marcel. She didn't say anything as she brushed past him and headed up the stairs.

"There's a library off the study if you would prefer to amuse yourself that way." He called over his shoulder as he hurried out the door. Hope paused on the landing and waited until she heard his car pulling away before she headed for his study. Books were better than TV, though somehow she doubted he had the type of books she liked. Amusing herself with the mental picture of Klaus reading Vampire Academy, she made her way through the study and into the library.

There were shelves full of books, all classics in editions older than she was. She pulled one off the shelf without caring about the title and settled herself down on the only chair in the room. She forced herself to read almost half of the historical fiction before she had to stop. The bad vibe was coming back, stronger than ever.

Hope squeezed her eyes shut. She could _feel_ the grief and the pain that had been in the house before her. She tossed the book onto the table beside her with no care for being gentle. She went back through the study and went to the door that led down to the basement. It was one of those 'off-limits' rooms, but what Klaus knew wouldn't hurt either of them. She pushed the door open and flinched as the hinges creaked. The stairway was completely dark; she leaned in and felt the walls, but there was no light switch.

"Horror movies aren't real, this isn't a horror movie." She chanted to herself. Still, she had to back away, run into the kitchen and rummage through the junk drawer to find a flashlight before she went back to the stairway. Shining the flashlight around, she didn't see any monster waiting for her, so she started down.

Her bad feeling only got stronger as ventured down the stairs. A cobweb hit her face and she let out a shriek, batting it aside. She breathed deeply and continued on.

At the bottom of the staircase, she paused and shined her flashlight around. She let the beam of light rest on the four coffins. Then she turned halfway towards the stairs again, certain she'd stumbled into a horror movie. Then she stopped. _What if Elijah…_ She stopped her thought right there. She wasn't going to decide anything until she found out who, or what, was in those coffins. Curiosity might've killed the cat, but she wasn't a cat, she was a powerful witch that would brain-pain anyone or anything that came near her.

Hope went over to the first coffin and felt around the lid. Getting her fingers in a groove, she pushed open the coffin lid. There was nothing in it but a single silver dagger. She shut the coffin lid and moved onto the next one. Nothing dead or alive. Third one. Nothing. Fourth one. She hesitated but then pushed it open. A rat ran out and over her hand. She screamed, nearly dropping her flashlight. She was officially done with the basement.

She sprinted up the stairs and half-ran, half-tripped through the doorway. She shut the door behind her and leaned against it, already scolding herself for being jumpy about a rat. _Better hope the witches don't send an army of rats after you, you'll just go cationic,_ she told herself. No wonder Klaus didn't trust her to leave the house.

She turned to head back up the stairs and let out another shriek when Klaus was standing there.

"Having fun exploring, baby wolf?" He asked calmly.

"The off-limit areas are the most fun." She said breathlessly, trying to recover her composure.

"So I see." He frowned and reached over to pull a cobweb off from her hair. She grimaced and ran her hand through her hair to make sure there was nothing else hiding there.

"Already back from drinking with your bestie?" She asked, turning off the flashlight.

"Apparently there was a problem with some of his nightwalkers. He went to handle it." Klaus explained.

"Oh, some of his vampires are dead? I'm going to lose so much sleep over that!" Hope said sarcastically. She brushed past him to head for the stairs.

"I got you something." She stopped, turning back towards him suspiciously.

"Is it a coffin for my very own? Saw your collection down there. And you wonder why everyone thinks you're creepy."

"I told you not to go down there. Perhaps this will keep you from wandering about unchecked." He handed her a shopping bag and she took it hesitantly. She reached into it and pulled out the box. It was a laptop, one of the newest models out.

"Surprisingly, this house has a wireless internet connection already. Amuse yourself with it." Klaus told her.

"It's called Wi-Fi. And you do know that buying me gifts isn't the same as being a good father, right?" She questioned.

"If you want me to take it back-." He reached for it and she stepped back quickly.

"No, no!" She said quickly, causing Klaus to smile slightly, "Its fine. Thanks." She ground out the last word like it caused her physical pain, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I'll be in my study." He told her, already heading that way.

"Is that code for something? Because no one spends that much time in a study."

"It's where I plan the murder of innocents and orphaning of children." She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not so she decided not to ask. She headed up the stairs and into her bedroom, making sure to kick the door shut behind her.

It didn't take her long to set up her computer. There was no password for the wifi and she got into the internet quickly and started at the homepage. She hadn't realized how much she missed the internet in her time in captivity. She browsed through websites until she heard the crunch of gravel in the driveway. She stood up from the desk chair and looked out the window, hoping for a sign that Elijah was coming back. She didn't know what kind of car Elijah drove, but she doubted it was a bright red convertible. Her heart sank.

The door banged open and she jumped. _Who on Earth is stupid enough to barge into Klaus's house?_ She wondered, already heading out of her room and towards the stairs. There was a blonde woman there, looking around angrily. They caught sight of each other at the same time.

"Who are you?" Hope asked hesitantly; she could feel another bad vibe radiating from the woman, not unlike the feeling she got from Klaus.

"Oh, you must be the maid. My bags are in the car, get them will you?"

"Get them yourself." Hope shot back, already disliking the woman.

"Right. You're that werewolf-witch that had the misfortune of being born to my brother. You have his eyes."

"Uh, thanks?" Hope was fairly certain that wasn't actually a compliment.

"It's Hope, isn't it?" The woman questioned.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Rebekah. Klaus's sister. Unfortunately."

"You have your brother's manners." Hope told her.

"And his temper too. Where's Elijah?"

"Does it look like I'm hiding him behind my skirts? I have no clue, woman!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. He left right after promising some crap about protecting me and being all poetic about how we're family. Klaus said he bailed." Hope decided to thoroughly throw Klaus under the bus as well. Rebekah ground her teeth together.

"Elijah doesn't break his promises-."

"Well, I don't see him around here protecting me." Hope cut in angrily. Rebekah darted over to her, grabbing her by the throat.

"Elijah doesn't break his promises, which means Klaus has done something dastardly to him." Rebekah informed her in a growl. Hope held out her hand. Rebekah let out a yell and released her, her hands flying up to her head. She stumbled back and rolled down the stairs. Hope ran after her.

"Don't touch me!" She snarled. Rebekah jumped to her feet and her fist flew into Hope's face. Hope hit the floor hard and then flicked her hand. Rebekah flew into the wall and hit the table against it. Both fell over onto the floor with a crash. Hope wiped the blood away from her nose, the injury already healed.

Klaus came into the room, looking around at the scene. Hope and Rebekah both got to their feet and turned to look at him.

"Well, you're better than a guard dog." He told Hope approvingly.

"Bite me."

"Considering your vampire side, you probably don't want that." He returned before looking to Rebekah: "Little sister, I should have known. I assume those six vampires were your doing?"

"They were very rude. Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter. So sorry, were they friends of yours? Oh, that's right, you don't have any friends." Rebekah told him.

"I do have friends. I have Marcel. You remember him, don't you? Yes, of course you do. He fancies himself the 'King of the Quarter' now, and he has these rules about killing vampires. It'll be fun to see what sort of punishment he comes up with for you."

"I don't care about Marcel or his rules. Elijah doesn't welch on deals. What did you do to him?"

"Perhaps he's on holiday... or taking a long autumn nap upstairs. Well, go on. Take a look around. You remember this house as well as I." Klaus invited her. Rebekah glared at him.

"I remember everything."

"Well, he wasn't good enough for you." Klaus said airily.

"No one was ever good enough for me, Nik, you made sure of that. Now where is Elijah?" Klaus's phone buzzed and he looked at it instead of answering. Then he headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Rebekah and Hope asked in unison.

"It appears the night is not quite over yet. I'm off for another drink with Marcel."

"Elijah told me about your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. I don't remember it involving you two drinking New Orleans dry together." Rebekah protested.

"I know you don't have many friends, Rebekah, but what some friends do when they get together is they drink. And when they drink, they tell secrets. Marcel has somehow found a way to control the entirety of witches in the Quarter, and I aim to uncover the how so I might take it for myself. Finding Elijah didn't make my to-do list today." He walked to the door but paused before he left, turning back to her.

"Oh, and welcome home, little sister. Do make sure Baby Wolf doesn't go wandering off. She has a bad habit of that." With that, he left. Rebekah turned, looking at Hope like she just remembered she was there.

"You, Baby Wolf-."

"Don't call me that."

"Oh, but daddy dearest can call you that?"

"I've told him not to call me that, he doesn't listen. I was hoping you were more polite but apparently not." Hope replied. A smile tugged at the edges of Rebekah's lips.

"I'm going to search this house inch by inch until I find what my evil brother has done to my good one. You're helping."

"Well, since you ask so nicely…"

"The governor had lots of secret rooms. I'll show you his favorite." Rebekah offered, heading for the basement.

"Already checked there, the coffins are empty." Hope called out. Rebekah turned to look at her.

"You've been down there already?" There was a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"Klaus told me it was off-limits, so naturally I had to go see what it was all about." Hope shrugged. Rebekah grinned.

"I like you. Come on, we'll check another favorite room of Klaus's." The blonde headed up the stairs and Hope jogged after her. As Rebekah led her up to the attic, Hope couldn't help but try and talk to her.

"What are those daggers, down there in the basement? They don't kill you, do they?"

"We can't be killed, but that doesn't stop Klaus from finding ways to torture us. He has a set of daggers that sends us into a deep slumber. Klaus gets his jollies from keeping us in a box until he decides to pull the dagger that. That must be what he's done to Elijah." Rebekah looked around the attic, but there was nothing there. She cursed under her breath and turned back to Hope.

"Elijah isn't here; he must've stashed him elsewhere."

"Why are you acting like this is normal? This is… sick." Hope seemed pale underneath her tan. Rebekah smiled patronizingly at her.

"Welcome to the family, love. You should've run the second you realized Elijah was gone."

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

"Well, what's stopping you?" Rebekah asked impatiently.

"Sophie Devereaux linked us. I leave New Orleans, she'll kill me."

"And kill herself?" Rebekah asked unbelieving.

"She's desperate."

"Well, if I were you, I would figure out a way to get out of mess. Elijah may believe Klaus can change and be father of the year, but I think we girls know the truth. Sooner or later, Klaus is going to find a way to put you somewhere out of the way. It may not be a coffin, but it'll be someplace dark and lonely where no one will hear your screams." On that happy note, Rebekah bounded down the stairs again.

Hope hurried after her, staying a few steps behind Rebekah as her aunt talked.

"Do you know how to do a locator spell?"

"No."

"Then we need another witch. What's the one linked to you?"

"Sophie Devereaux."

"I'm going to pay her a visit." Hope didn't miss the 'I' in that sentence.

"Wait, you have to take me with you!" Hope's voice was suddenly panicked, like being left alone in the house would be torture for her. Rebekah stopped by the door and looked at her.

"Do you have some kind of separation anxiety I should know about?" She asked in a tone that said she didn't care one way or another.

"I've been stuck here for way too long! Klaus won't let me take a walk without supervision for crying out!" Hope complained. Rebekah looked her over and then smiled slightly. She halfway liked the girl already and having company wouldn't be completely awful.

"Get in the car. We'll have a girl's night."


	5. Desperate Souls

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

Rebekah parked the car on the curb outside Sophie's restaurant and bar and looked over at Hope.

"Ride's over. Get out." The girl seemed to be enjoying herself a little too much. Hope opened one eye and sat up straighter.

"Oh, we're here." She seemed surprised.

"Fix your hair." Rebekah told her. Hope ran her fingers through her windblown hair and made it somewhat presentable. Rebekah sped into the restaurant, leaving Hope to hurry human-speed after her.

"Hello? Seriously, Marcel? Trying to scare me? I had nothing to do with the attack on your guys last night!" Sophie called out. She turned around with a knife raised above her head and Rebekah caught her arm.

"Sophie Devereaux. My brother, Elijah, told me about you. Know who I am?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Then you know we need to talk." Rebekah motioned to the table behind Sophie. Sophie hesitated, turning. She saw Hope and sighed. She went and sat down. Rebekah and Hope stood close to her. Rebekah quickly explained her situation.

"So, if I had to guess, knowing Klaus's history, Elijah has a dagger in his chest. It's a magical object, you're a witch. Do a locator spell, locate the dagger, locate Elijah."

"I can't use magic. It's punishable by death. Marcel's rules." Sophie explained.

"Marcel?" Rebekah scoffed, "What do you think _I'm_ going to do to you if you don't give me what I want?"

"Not much. I've been linked, so anything you do to me, you do to Hope." Sophie motioned somewhat smugly to Hope beside her.

"Hope has vampire blood running through her veins, Elijah told me that much. She'll heal. Worst case scenario, you both die and she'll come back as a vampire that can take care of herself even better than before. I doubt the same will happen to you, though. Care to test the theory?" Rebekah looked at the knife on the table. Sophie sighed.

"Look, I can't do what you want me to. And when you find your brother, do you want to have to explain to him what happened to his precious little niece?" Sophie demanded.

"You're lucky Elijah seems to care about her." Rebekah told her hesitantly, still deciding what to do.

"Why do you think I linked myself to her?" Sophie was definitely smug.

"Rebekah." Rebekah looked at Hope and Hope motioned for her to follow her. With an annoyed sigh, Rebekah followed Hope to the other side of the restaurant.

"If I die, I'll turn into a vampire?" She whispered.

"With vampire blood in your system, yes. Why?" Rebekah looked at her suspiciously.

"But Sophie won't."

"I've already been over this with her." Rebekah reminded her.

"Do what you have to do. I have to do something." Rebekah watched Hope leave and then turned back to Sophie.

"You. Tell me more about what Marcel's done to this city."

* * *

Hope stood on a bridge, looking over it. _Come on, Hope. One jump and then you are a vampire. You're unlinked. You can leave,_ she told herself. She climbed up onto the edge, unsteady but quickly got her balance.

Footsteps sounded behind her and she turned halfway, expecting a pissed off Rebekah. Instead, three vampires stood behind her, grinning like idiots.

"Oooh, we got a tourist on our hands."

"I bet she won't even mind us taking a bite out of here, considering where she's at." Another one laughed. Hope quickly got off the railing and faced the vampires.

"Vampires, right? You guys think you run the town and everyone in it, don't you?" Hope snarled.

"We kind of do." One of them said, amused.

Hope held out her hand. The three vampires collapsed in screaming heaps, blood streaming out of their noses. One of them jump up and sped over to Hope, ramming into her. She hit the railing hard and almost went over. She caught herself, but her concentration was gone; the vampires were all up and surround her. She kicked the nearest one as hard as she could, but the two others grabbed her and bent her over the railing, the metal digging into her back.

Suddenly, they were off of her. She slid down until she was sitting on the ground, her hands wrapped around the railing, as she watched Rebekah snap necks and tear hearts out.

"Now, that is no way to treat a young lady. I do hate bad manners." Rebekah threw the heart onto the ground and turned to Hope.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Then it all seemed to click for Rebekah. She rushed over, hauled Hope to her feet and held her at arms length in an iron grip.

"Rebekah-." Hope started.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Hope flinched and looked away from her as Rebekah continued: "Honestly, you're a Mikaelson! You couldn't think of another way out? This is your grand plan?! Hope!" Rebekah shoved her away and looked at her in a mixture of disgust and shock.

"I can't believe you." She added after a moment, breathless.

"Rebekah-." Hope started again.

"Don't." Rebekah interrupted, holding up a hand. Hope sucked in a breath and stopped. She had seen angry before. She knew the emotion well. But Rebekah had taken it to a whole new level.

"Come with me. We'll take these bodies back with us to burn at home," that sounded less than fun to Hope but she nodded, "and then you are never leaving without supervision again. Honestly, I can see why Nik stays so close to you." Rebekah told her, shaking her head.

"He doesn't trust me as far as he can throw me!" Hope yelled.

"And I wonder why!" Rebekah motioned around the bridge and shot Hope a look. "The car's over there." She pointed to the road off the bridge. Hope hesitated but the insistent point told her that Rebekah wasn't taking no for an answer. Hope hurried off and let Rebekah deal with the bodies.

* * *

" _This_ is why I told you never to leave the house. Werewolves are banned in the Quarter. I had a plan, and your little nighttime stroll put it all in peril!" Klaus shouted. "Leave him!" Rebekah had started to move towards a body that had started to move, but stopped at Klaus's command.

"You've done enough, don't you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a road map to my door? Taking my daughter out into a city full of people just waiting to kill her?" Klaus added, finally taking his eyes off Hope.

"She was with me almost the entire time! And don't give me that crap about having a plan. You've had all the time in the world to execute a plane and no one's seen you do a thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your daughter, so that she could save you from your selfish, rotten self, but you obviously don't care about Hope or Elijah because what have you done to honor it?" Rebekah shouted back.

"I have done everything. Let me spell it out for you, shall I? From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn't trusted me. From Day One, he's had his vampires ingest toxic Vervain which, as you know, little sister, protects them from my mind control. I needed a spy, someone on the inside with me who Marcel would never suspect. So, I created a Day Zero and got there first. Marcel had just lost six vampires, thanks to your little murder spree, and he needed new recruits. So, I made the new one mine, before he'd had even a drop of Vervain." Klaus walked over to the vampire that's still alive and dragged him from the pile. "And this one… I'm gonna drain him of Vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight." He dragged the vampire into the house and Rebekah and Hope slowly followed him inside. As he dropped the body onto the floor, he turned around to face them.

"Does anyone have any more questions? No? Good, because I have a question. Hope, what were you doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place? Answer me!"

"Leave her be." Rebekah snapped instantly, putting up her arm to make sure Hope knew to be quiet. Hope smacked Rebekah's arm away.

"You wanna know what I was doing? I was going to kill myself so that Sophie would die, I would be a vampire and I could get as far away from you and this whacked city as possible!" She had barely finished before Klaus had her by the throat against the wall.

"NIK!" Rebekah pushed him off Hope and shoved him back against the railing of the steps. He stared at her, angry, but Rebekah didn't give him a chance to say a word.

"Keep your hands off her! She's your daughter and she is a child, for God's sake! She only did that because she is scared and she wants a way out, a way to protect herself, because you haven't shown her you willing to do that!" Rebekah shouted. Hope was already on the floor, rubbing her throat and avoiding eye-contact with Klaus.

"Are you alright?" Rebekah turned to look over her shoulder. Hope said nothing. Rebekah heaved a sigh and went over, grabbing her by the arm and hauling her to her feet.

"Keep your hands off her." She growled at Klaus again as she herded Hope into the kitchen.

"Thanks." Hope choked out once they were away from Klaus.

"You're a pathetic little thing, you know that?" Rebekah mumbled under her breath. Hope said nothing, knowing that was as close as she was going to get to Rebekah saying 'you poor thing, let me help you'. Rebekah ripped open the fridge and examined the contents.

"What is Klaus feeding you?" She asked disapprovingly. She looked past all the frozen dinners, energy drinks and pure-sugar products and spotted a can of diet coke. She grabbed it and handed it over to Hope.

"Drink this. You'll feel better and more optimistic with something in your stomach."

"Like comfort food?"

"Precisely. Let me see if you have anything here that would give you diabetes." Rebekah ushered Hope over to the island where she could sit down and then started searching through the cabinets. Hope popped open the can of soda and took a sip.

Klaus came to stand in the doorway and Hope quickly stood up and backed away. Rebekah looked at her and then at Klaus, moving ever so slightly to stand in between them.

"I gave Elijah to Marcel."

"What?" Rebekah demanded, staring at him like he'd grown a third eye.

"Marcel was nervous. It's bad enough one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so... I gave him a peace offering."

" _You bartered our brother?_ "

"I have a plan. Gain Marcel's trust, dismantle his empire, honor Elijah's wish that that girl remains safe and protected. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." Klaus cast a glance at Hope, who was still avoiding his eyes, and then left the room.

Rebekah leaned back against the island and closed her eyes, thinking. Hope went over to her.

"You're an Original, why can't you take out Marcel, grab Elijah, have him figure out a way to unlink me and then we can go?" Rebekah looked at her and Hope realized what she had really said. _We_. A word she'd never used before. She was assuming that, when Rebekah and Elijah left the city, that they would even want her to come with them. Elijah seemed nice, but she'd known him for less than twenty-four hours.

If Rebekah noticed her wording, she didn't say anything about it as she spoke to Hope again.

"Because if I cross my brother, there's still a coffin below us with my name on it." Hope leaned in to whisper to Rebekah, hoping Klaus couldn't here them.

"What if you didn't have to worry about your daggers? They're in your coffin."

"You found them?"

"He didn't exactly hide them." Hope replied with a shrug. Without waiting for Rebekah to respond, she hurried out of the room. Rebekah hesitated, thinking about it, and then slowly started after Hope. She didn't even get to the doorway before Hope was back.

"You're fast."

"When in dark basements, I run fast. Here are the antique steak knives." She whispered as handed Rebekah the daggers. Rebekah took them in awe.

"Well, us girls do have to stick together, don't we?" Rebekah asked. Hope smiled. Rebekah slowly put the daggers in her purse, like she was afraid they'd blow up in her face. Then she turned back to Hope.

"Now, I wasn't kidding about getting you something to eat. Don't you have any normal food here?"

"Not really." Rebekah sighed.

"I'll make do. Sit down where I can watch you."

* * *

Klaus stood outside Hope's door. She watched him in the reflection from the screen of her laptop, lying in bed. Klaus obviously thought she was asleep, because he ventured into the room as if to get a better look at her. She rolled over and sat up.

"Why are you acting like more of a creeper than usual?"

"You're awake."

"Obviously. It's hot in here." She kicked off the thin sheet and pulled her knees to her chest.

"What stopped you? You could have been free of all of this... of me." Klaus told her.

"Besides the vampires?" She asked dryly. When he didn't respond, she continued: "It's not such a big deal. I wouldn't have really died. Just become a vampire."

"Yes! And then you could avoid all human contact, feed on the innocents and be a demon of the night. A perfect plan!" Klaus agreed sarcastically.

"Like you care!"

"Contrary to popular belief, I do have an interest in your well-being."

"I'm truly touched; you have such a way with words, daddy dearest."

"And the last thing I would want for you is to become like us, to be robbed off everything that makes you good-."

"Like you have been around me long enough to know anything about me!" She threw her pillow at him, which he deftly dodged, and it smacked against the wall with a thump. She stood up from her bed, glaring at him.

"All you have done is avoid me since you met me, so don't act like you know anything about me. You leave me alone all the time!" She shouted. Klaus watched her, the realization that leaving her alone was, in her mind, the worst he could have ever done to her. She sucked in a breath.

"I was in the foster care system. I have been ignored, thrown out of houses, told by people I thought could love me that I wasn't the right fit or some other crap like that. I have been alone my entire life. I thought that coming to New Orleans and finding my family… I thought it would be different. It's not. You're the same as all those jerks before you." As if suddenly embarrassed by showing emotion, she turned towards the window so her back was to him.

"I'm beginning to think we're a lot alike, you and I."

"Oh, were you in the Viking foster care system?" She asked sarcastically.

"Mikael, the man we get our name from, wasn't my father. He was my step-father. I was the evidence of my mother's infidelity and I was the victim of his rage." Hope turned slightly to look at him, but then dropped her eyes and turned again. He went on: "We're both castoffs who have learned to fight when we're backed into a corner."

"Well, we're backed into a corner now." Hope mumbled.

"Ah, that we are. It's time to fight, Baby Wolf." Hope didn't realize that Klaus had walked closer to her until he put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around somewhat hesitantly.

"Also, never go anywhere near tall places again." He ordered. He started to leave but she called him back.

"Hey! Next time I do something stupid, how about a slap on the wrist instead of choking me? Parenting books will concur!"

"I don't have time for those things. It's a live and learn process." He told her, smiling. She gave a short laugh.

"Trial and error?"

"Precisely. I'll have someone see to the air-conditioning." He added. The front door opened and then slammed shut. Klaus turned towards the stairs.

"Rebekah." He hurried away and Hope jogged after him, her bare feet slapping against the floor.

"You were right. The girl, Cami, she's the key. Marcel likes her, and because of that I got to see the secret weapon of his that you've been going on about." Rebekah was saying as she got down the stairs.

"Well, don't stand on ceremony. What is it?"

"It's not a 'what', it's a 'who'. A girl, Davina. She can't older than Hope and I have never felt power like that, not even from Hope herself."

"A witch."

"She's not just any witch, she's something I've never seen before, something beyond powerful, and now because of you she has Elijah. Who knows what she could do to him."

"Where is she?" Rebekah paused, thinking, then looked confused.

"I… I don't know."

"What's wrong?"

"She wiped my memory of the location. Marcel possesses a weapon bigger and more powerful than an Original, and you handed our brother to him! How many times will Elijah forgive you? How long until his hope for your redemption finally dies?" Rebekah yelled at him.

"I did what I had to do! Marcel took our home!"

"And our home is _worthless_ without family. I am finding Elijah, whatever it takes. Are you going to help me?"

"Whatever it takes."


	6. Devil in Disguise

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

"I cannot believe you disposed of those vampires without me. You know how I love to set things on fire!" Rebekah was complaining the next day.

"Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard to rot? Besides, they were my responsibility. They attacked my helpless daughter."

"Since when am I helpless?" Hope was in the doorway, looking genuinely offended. Klaus ignored the question and Hope rolled her eyes before continuing: "The daughter would like to know what the plan is."

"Well, that depends what plan you mean. My plan for global domination or Rebekah's plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world?" Klaus asked. Rebekah took a pencil from the desk beside her and threw it in Klaus's direction. Klaus caught it before it could embed itself in his face.

"When did we all turn into five year olds?" Hope demanded.

"You'll find Klaus is quite immature when he doesn't have anyone to destroy." Rebekah explained.

"How about going to destroy your mortal enemy?" Hope suggested maliciously.

"Okay. Well, firstly, Marcel is not my mortal enemy, he's my _friend_. Albeit one who is unaware that I'm trying to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter, but a friend nonetheless. And secondly, I daggered Elijah in order to gain Marcel's trust. If I had known he would place my brother in the hands of a particularly nasty teenage witch, I certainly would have weighed my options a bit differently. And thirdly," He motioned to Rebekah, "sister, please."

"And thirdly, the plan is for Niklaus to simply ask Marcel for Elijah back." Rebekah finished.

"That's not the whole plan is it? Because if it is, it's stupid." Hope informed them matter-of-factly. Rebekah scoffed.

"Please! Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a sibling, but there is none more diabolical."

"And that's only the Plan A, Baby Wolf! There's _always_ a Plan B."

"And what's Plan B?" Klaus smiled at her.

" _War_."

* * *

Hope sat on her bed, staring at her laptop screen. She stood up and, taking her laptop with her, hurried downstairs. She paused in the doorway to the living room, where Rebekah, Sophie and Klaus were talking.

"Are you out of your mind? No way." Sophie complained.

"It's very simple. We need you to perform a teeny, tiny locator spell to help us find our brother." Rebekah explained.

"Witches who practice magic in this town get caught, and then they get _killed_."

"Yes, about that. It seems you left out a crucial detail when we made our deal-Marcel's secret weapon, the way he knows when a witch is using magic..."

"Girl about yea high, cute as a button, anger issues?" Rebekah prompted. Sophie looked shocked.

"Davina? Where have you seen her?"

"I don't know. The little brat erased my memory right after she threw me out a window with her bloody _mind_." Rebekah complained.

"Let me cut to the chase. Davina has Elijah. You witches, I assume, want to get Davina away from Marcel. We don't know where she is. Ergo, we need magic."

"Davina would sense it."

"Unless another witch was using magic." Hope interrupted. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Yes. There's a girl who's dating Marcel's right-hand man. Katie. She'll being doing much more powerful magic at the same time that would create a smokescreen." Rebekah explained.

"Katie doesn't deserve to die!" Sophie protested. Klaus slammed his hands on the table and stood up to face Sophie.

"Sophie Devereaux! You're in _no_ position to be so principled. You can't win a war without a few strategic losses, no matter how regrettable they may be." Klaus explained.

"Or I can do magic at the same time." Hope put in quickly.

"No." Klaus told her simply before turning back to Sophie.

"Yes." She insisted. She stomped over to him and put the laptop in front of him, motioning towards the screen.

"I don't have time for-." He started.

"Look at it. That's a little-known story about something that happened fifteen years ago in New Orleans. The police tried to keep it hushed up because they never caught who did it."

"Did what?" Rebekah asked, annoyed.

"Stole a body from the morgue that was part of an investigation."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Rebekah demanded.

"That woman that was stolen from the morgue was a Jane Doe. She crashed car with an infant who was then put in the foster care system. Fifteen years ago."

"You mean…" Rebekah trailed off, staring at her.

"That was my mother."

"Well, it looks like someone had an interest in her; I don't see what this has to do with you wanting to play chicken with Marcel's vampires." Klaus told her.

"There was no evidence. It was like she had just walked out on her own."

"Like a vampire." Rebekah breathed. Hope reached over to the laptop to change to another page.

"That same day there were animal attacks on the edge of the city. People claimed it was wolves. The next day they ran a death announcement for this woman." This time, Hope turned the laptop screen towards Sophie. Sophie squinted at the name.

"That was our last regent." She explained.

"Someone killed a witch and the werewolves that supposedly live in the bayou got antsy… If that child that was put in the foster care system was you, that can't be a coincidence." Rebekah said.

"My point exactly. I need to do a locator spell for my mother." Hope explained.

"If you're doing a locator spell for someone far away, it would be more powerful than a locator spell for someone close by." Sophie agreed.

"And Marcel's vampires would go after you!" Klaus reminded them angrily.

"No, they would go to the place I had been, long after I was gone." Hope corrected. Rebekah smiled at her.

"You're a smart girl. I like you." She said approvingly.

"I go out to the middle of nowhere, do the spell, get my mother's location and then I run like the devil's chasing me. Because he will." Hope explained.

"Nonsense, I won't be chasing you." Klaus said, smiling.

"I can teach you how to do the locator spell, but you'll need something to bind the spell with. Something that was hers." Sophie put in.

"I don't have anything of hers." Hope protested.

"You said that there was an investigation, right?" Rebekah questioned.

"Yeah."

"So there would probably be jewelry, clothes, other things from the car, locked away in evidence?"

"Probably." Rebekah's face broke out into a grin.

"Problem solved."

* * *

Rebekah climbed into the car and dumped a box onto Hope's lap. Her compulsion had worked like a charm. The box was dusty, but it felt heavy. Hope ripped off the lid but Rebekah slammed it back on.

"Put it down. I can't compel the people passing by." She protested. Hope sighed and slowly put the box down onto the floor by her feet.

"One more stop and we'll head home." Rebekah told her, starting the car and pulling away from the curb.

"Where are we going?" Hope asked.

"We have to make sure Marcel is distracted tonight. I know just the thing. Or just the person, more accurately."

It didn't take long to reach the restaurant/bar that Sophie owned. Sophie wasn't the one working; it was a blonde waitress with a nametag depicting her as 'Camille'. Rebekah and Hope sat down at the bar and Rebekah told her a fake story about her past.

"And so then, I moved back here to be closer to my brothers because, let's face it, family's important. Right, Camille?"

"Cami. I have to change this name tag; drunk guys keep hitting on me in French." She paused, staring at Rebekah, "You sure you haven't been in here before? Your face looks _so_ familiar." Rebekah hesitated, but then smiled.

"You must have seen me out and about."

"Must've… I'm sorry; I've been completely ignoring you. I'm Cami." She turned to Hope, who looked up, slightly startled by the fact she was now being addressed.

"Hope Mikaelson."

"Oh, sisters?"

"She's my niece." Rebekah corrected. Cami looked surprised, but said nothing. Rebekah smiled and added: "I'm older than I look, but I'm flattered. Hey, aren't you dating Marcel Gerard? He's a pal of mine... sort of. I heard he had a crush on the blonde bartender at Rousseau's."

"I would hardly call it dating. He's wooing me... sort of. I don't know. I mean, he's very charming, which probably means I should run for the hills."

"I'm kind of in an on-again-off-again thing myself at the moment." Rebekah told her.

"Those are the worst, aren't they? The ones you can't shake, even though you know better, and you _always_ know better?"

"I like you, Cami. Most girls have the unfortunate tendency of being whiny little twits."

"Thanks... I think."

"Hey, I'm supposed to go to this posh charity thing thrown by this philanthropist tonight. He's a bit of a Gatsby, throws a mean party. Any interest?"

* * *

Hope sat on the floor of the living room, spreading out everything from the box. Klaus started to come into the room and she threw out her hand. He froze obediently.

"Watch where you step." She ordered. She had the contents of the evidence box scattered on the floor and she sat in the middle of it, looking around at it. Pieces of jewelry, old clothes, a purse and its contents, a notebook… all she had to try and find her mother. Sophie stood in the doorway next to Klaus.

"Grab a piece of jewelry, those are the easiest to use for a locator spell." Sophie ordered. Hope pretended to ignore her for a minute, but then reached over to grab a ring.

"Now, I'll teach you how to do the spell, but you have to listen carefully." Hope started picking up the contents of the box and putting it all away with care.

"In the meantime, I have a party to get ready for." Klaus announced with a smile. He handed Hope a cell-phone. "Here, in case something goes wrong." With that, he headed away from the room again and Hope turned her attention to Sophie, who was looking annoyed.

"What, don't like me?" Hope put on a fake hurt face.

"You're uncontrolled. If I'm going to teach you, you need to reign in your emotions."

"I'm going to find my mother who I thought was dead. My emotions are not going to be reigned in. I thought magic was all about emotion."

"It's about emotional _control_. Using your emotions."

"Consider my emotions at the ready. Just teach me the spell." Sophie looked at her with an expression that told Hope she was rethinking her entire life and then she settled down on the floor in front of Hope.

"If this works, vampires are going to go after you."

"I'll be long gone by then." Hope assured her.

"We're still linked-."

"Really? Hadn't noticed." The sarcasm was strong with her. Sophie ground her teeth together.

"I don't want to die because you didn't run fast enough. Finding your uncle was not part of my plan."

"But finding that girl is, so I think we'll both benefit from this. Otherwise, you wouldn't be doing it."

"You are a lot like your father, you know that?"

"Being intelligent and un-killable is genetic, apparently. Oh and just for being the non-magical kind of witch…" Hope's arm snapped out and Sophie fell backwards, nose spurting blood. Hope's own nose was bleeding, but she wiped away the blood and shook out her hand without concern. After all, she would heal faster than Sophie. Then she settled herself back on her heels and gave Sophie a dazzling smile, "Now, teach me the spell."

* * *

Hope's preferred place of business, if she had one, was certainly not the middle of a bayou. But desperate times…

" _Start the spell in exactly two minutes. I'll start mine a couple seconds afterwards. We're linked; I'll know when you stop. Hopefully, I'll be done quicker. Don't get me killed._ " Sophie ordered from the other end of the phone.

"Don't tell me what to do. I'm hanging up now." Hope hung up and set the phone down in front of her by the map. She slipped her mother's ring onto her finger and picked up the knife at her side. She watched the clock on her phone, waiting impatiently. Finally, it was time to start the spell.

She cut into her hand, relishing the fact that Sophie was probably cussing at the deep cut, and let the blood drip over the map. She twisted the ring around in her hand and then started the chant Sophie had taught her. Within seconds, flames burst out of the map and Hope had to jump back. The ring on her finger caught fire as well and she had to yank it off before it melted onto her finger. Her phone beeped insistently. Out of habit rather than anything else, she looked at the screen.

A simple text message lit up the screen:

 ** _RUN_**

The number was Klaus's, she was certain of that. But run? She didn't understand that. She grabbed the knife and cut into her hand again, letting the blood drip onto the remains of the map. Focusing, she chanted again. The flame burst out of the map again and she was thrown back.

She rolled a little ways and then came to a stop. She shook her head. Something was definitely wrong with the locator spell.

"Hey, little witch, come out, come out, wherever you are." A voice sang out. _There's no way vampires are already out here!_ She cried in her head, _I just started the stupid spell._ Then the realization hit her like a brick.

Klaus had set her up. Maybe Sophie had too, with a fake spell. Klaus had told Marcel that a witch would be practicing magic in the area. He had practically dumped her into the lap of vampires. Sophie just made sure she was distracted and would get thrown around a bit first.

Hope leapt forward, grabbing her knife. She looked around, listening hard to the excited shouts and teasing calls aimed at her. She was surrounded by vampires with orders to kill a witch. To kill _her_. Rebekah had claimed that Klaus was the devil. Hope had agreed he was a psychopath, but she'd also thought that she was under the protection of that psychopath.

She scrambled to her feet and ran. A vampire snarled and ran at her. She held out her hand and he collapsed, screaming and holding his head. She took the knife and jammed it into his neck. He fell over, dead but not for long. Hope started sprinting, ducking under branches and dodging underbrush and logs as she went. She could hear the vampires in fast pursuit.

One of them grabbed her and threw her to the ground, leaping on top of her before she could think to move. With an excited laugh, he sunk his teeth into her neck.


	7. The Masterpiece

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

Hope screamed. Her body was pinned down by the vampires. His teeth in her neck. Her knife was still in the throat of the other vampire. Her emotions were certainly running wild, but she couldn't concentrate enough to do anything to this vampire.

Then it was over. The vampire was off her. Her neck wound was healing.

She sat up, her hand flying to her neck. The vampire had rolled down the hill she'd come up. The other vampires cried out in surprise.

"Yo, man! What happened?" _Very mature, very vampiric,_ Hope thought sarcastically. She looked around for her rescuer and locked eyes with a wolf a few feet away. She froze. _Remember, the wolf is more afraid of you than you are of it,_ she told herself, but that wasn't much of a comfort. What kind of wolf attacked a vampire?

 _A werewolf._

"Uh… Thanks?" She whispered. The vampires were still below; she didn't have time to chit-chat with a wolf. She scrambled to her feet and started running. She ducked under what branches she saw, getting hit in the face more than once, and dodged anything she saw that would trip her on the ground, but was sent into the mud more than once. Each time she got up, until the last time. The last time, she stayed on the ground, just rolling over onto her back.

She sucked in deep breathes and tried to comprehend the situation. She'd been set up. She had been almost killed. A werewolf had saved her. The vampire didn't seem to be following her anymore or they would have caught up to her long before. She squeezed her eyes shut.

 _This was not what I was expecting,_ she thought. She had known New Orleans was a dangerous place for the supernatural, but that information hadn't really sunk in until that moment, lying on her back in the middle of a bayou.

There was a howl that sounded eerily close and she jerked herself up into a sitting position. Wolves howled to let their pack members know their location. She hadn't a feeling that there was more than one wolf running around. She scrambled backwards until she could place her back against a tree, like that made her any safer.

Hope didn't hear the wolf until was a few feet away, facing her. She slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the instinctive yell that came out. The wolf stared her, as if checking her over, and then disappeared behind the bushes again. Hope lowered her hand and stared at where the wolf had been.

Sucking in another deep breath, she pushed herself to her feet. Magic was out of the question. Throwing around Klaus when he pissed her off was one thing. It wasn't enough to draw anyone's attention. Doing a spell that would tell her where she was? That would bring the vampires raining down on her again. Besides, her map was burnt to a crisp and a few miles back. With no other choice, she started walking.

* * *

Rebekah paced in the living room, hating herself for being so worried about a girl she barely knew. Sophie had told her that something had happened, that Hope had stopped the spell before she could do her own. Something had happened to Hope and she still hadn't returned.

She was just deciding to go out into the bayou and look for her, no matter how long that took, when the door opened and she heard footsteps in the front room. She turned and ran towards the door.

"Hope-!" She stopped dead. Klaus stood there, looking smug with himself. She glared at him. "Where have you been? Something went wrong tonight. It was a failure and-."

"On the contrary, sister. Tonight was a masterpiece."

"Are you mad? Something happened. The spell stopped before Sophie could get a location on Elijah!"

"Oh, I'm well aware. I told Marcel that Hope would be doing a spell in the bayou. He sent vampires to go stop her." Rebekah stared at him, appalled.

"You _what_?"

"I cemented my standing with him by giving him information about a new witch in town. He trusts me completely now."

"Sophie trusted you. _I_ trusted you! Against _all_ my better instincts."

"Wake up, Rebekah! Witches are on no one's side but their own. This girl, Davina? That's all they want, and when they have her, what do you think happens then, a truce? Of course not. They will use Davina's power against all of us."

"Even if you're right, the plan was to find Elijah, and you've failed us." Rebekah snarled.

"By giving Marcel what he believes was all my information, he trusts me. So much so much so that he's agreed to return Elijah to us. And when the time is right, when he has told me everything I need to know about Davina, I will have her for myself."

"I have all the faith in the world that you'll get what you want, Nik. You always do, no matter what is costs the rest of us. _You disgust me._ When we do find Elijah, I will enjoy watching him make you suffer! What will you tell him happened to your daughter, the girl he fought so hard to protect, when he is returned to us, Nik?"

"He needn't know the details. Where is Hope?" He asked casually, as if he planned to talk her out of hating him for the rest of eternity.

"Amazing how long it took you to ask that question. She hasn't returned. She's been gone for hours and I haven't heard from her. I've called her a hundred times and she hasn't picked up. But did you have fun drinking with Marcel?" Rebekah asked nastily. Klaus looked like he'd been slapped, which Rebekah enjoyed immensely. So much so that she continued on: "To be fair, I haven't heard from Sophie in a while either. So your daughter could be dead and it's your fault! You and your stupid games and manipulations and selfishness! She risked her life to save Elijah, to find her mother! She's just a child that wants a family and wants her mother and you've probably killed her, Niklaus!" With that off her chest, Rebekah shoved past him. He didn't try to stop her until she was halfway out the door.

"Rebekah-!"

"No, stay here with your booze and your plans. You always did love yourself as opposed to _anything_ else!" She slammed the door shut and hurried off the steps. She went straight past her car; she would carry Hope home if she had to, but the car wasn't going to stand a chance against the bayou.

She sped down the road, stopping halfway down it. A few yards ahead of her, Hope was stumbling along, looking like a living mess. But she was still living.

"Hope!" Rebekah ran over to her, stopping right in front of her. Hope looked at her, swallowing hard.

"I got set up."

"I know. Nik's a-."

"These vampires, they surrounded me and… one of them bit me. I hope he chokes on it." Hope continued as if Rebekah hadn't spoken, "And I got away but I got lost and I left my phone. The spell didn't work. I didn't learn anything. Tell you found Elijah." Hope's distracted voice turned into a very focused plea. Rebekah looked into her eyes and, for once her life, hated to have to be brutally honest.

"No. We didn't. Come inside. Are you still hurt?"

"I got set up, of course I'm hurt!"

"I meant physically, darling." Rebekah told her, annoyed. _She trusted Nik too,_ Rebekah realized, _and he threw her into a trap._ Her brother truly did disgust her sometimes.

"Oh… No. No, I healed." Hope stammered. She was covered in blood, mud and dust, but she was in one piece. Rebekah sighed in relief and took her by the arm.

"Let's get you inside." She tugged her towards the house and Hope obediently started walking with her. Rebekah reached over and yanked a branch out of Hope's dark hair. Hope's t-shirt and shorts were tattered and filthy; dried blood had caked to her neck and hands. Rebekah bit back a sigh; the girl in no way deserved any of what had happened to her.

She walked Hope up to the house. Klaus hurried out onto the porch when he saw them coming and Rebekah shot him the dirtiest look she could manage under the circumstances.

"Hope-." Klaus started. A smack to the face silenced him and made Rebekah smirk; she liked the girl more and more by the minute.

"You set me up! You tried to kill me!"

"I gave you ample warning-." Klaus started to defend himself.

"I shouldn't have had to have any warning if you had stuck to the plan!" Hope yelled at him. Rebekah as glad they didn't have any neighbors; the shouting matches were getting louder by the day.

"Elijah will be returned to us, I've made sure-."

"I couldn't find my mother-."

"Obviously you're alive-."

"Barely."

"-No harm done-."

"No _harm done?_ Look at me!"

"Both of you stop it!" Rebekah yelled. Hope and Klaus both fell silent. Rebekah pushed Nik aside and herded Hope up the porch steps. Klaus followed them silently until they reached the stairs. Rebekah gave Hope a nudge, encouraging her to continue, while she turned to face Klaus.

"Congratulations. You got what you wanted. Happy now, Nik?" She turned on her heel and hurried up the stairs, glad that Klaus had the sense not to follow them.

* * *

It was late when Klaus finally ventured upstairs. He was almost certain that Rebekah was asleep, but the light was still on in Hope's bedroom. Klaus went to stand in the doorway, looking in. Hope was just coming out of the bathroom, her long hair dripping water onto her tank top and sweatpants, but clean.

She spotted him before he could say a word and threw the towel onto her bed.

"Come to trick me into helping you with another one of your diabolical plans?" She growled. Any patience she'd had for him was long gone.

"I thought you might like to know, Elijah is returning to us."

"He'd better be." Hope grumbled.

"You hardly know him, and yet you miss him. What is it about my brother that always inspires such instant admiration?"

"Well, for one, he hasn't put my life in danger at every turn. Secondly, he was _nice_ to me. And, thirdly, he's actually capable of human emotion. So, yes, I prefer the good brother over you." Hope grabbed the towel off her bed and threw it into the bathroom, perhaps with more force then necessary. She pulled aside her hastily made covers and then circled around the bed to go over to Klaus. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Mr. Future King of the Quarter, I'm going to sleep until I don't feel like death." She motioned impatiently for him to leave, but he stood his ground for a minute more.

"I didn't expect you to have such trouble with the vampires."

"Is that the closest I'm going to get to an actual apology?" Hope demanded. Klaus said nothing. She scoffed and shook her head at him, "Let's try something new: say you're sorry to me. Try it out. Do you know how to pronounce the word?"

"I'm sorry." He ground out. She wasn't going to shut up until he did and, contrary to what she and Rebekah believed, he was apologetic about what had happened to her.

"I'll consider it. Get out." She shoved him, hard, and then slammed the door in his face.

"She has a temper, just like you." Klaus turned around and saw Rebekah standing in the doorway of her own room, "I wonder if someday she'll be the most feared hybrid of the supernatural world. I guess you've got competition." Smiling to herself, Rebekah shut the door and left him in the dark hallway.


	8. The Girl Lesser Men Fear

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

"Care to explain to me why the spell didn't work?" Hope demanded of Sophie. Sophie sat on the couch in front of her, looking just as surprised as Hope was angry.

"Are you sure you did the right spell-."

"I didn't say 'please, light my map on fire and melt the ring that belonged to my mother' in Latin!" Hope shot back, crossing her arms across her chest. Sophie stood up and winced; she hadn't healed from the linked injuries they'd both sustained the night before.

"I don't know what to tell you, unless…" Sophie trailed off. Hope raised an eyebrow.

"Unless?" She prompted.

"Someone put a spell on her that would keep her from being located through a spell."

"What is the point of a locator spell if there's another spell that keeps it from working?" Hope demanded.

"Magic's a pain. That's why I prefer interrogation and torture." Rebekah piped up from where she was sitting with her laptop behind them.

"So how do we take the spell of her so we can find her?" Hope asked.

"You'd have to know the witch, or a descendant of the witch, that put the spell on your mother in the first place."

"Don't suppose there's a handy spell for that?"

"Not exactly."

"Of course not." Hope agreed, tossing her hair out of her face.

"But if another witch I know tries the locator spell again, she might know who did. She has a skill for recognizing individual magic signatures."

"Where is this witch?"

"Out in the bayou. She keeps away from the quarter so she can still practice magic. She's technically out of the city limits." Sophie explained.

"Are you really going to run back out into that bayou so soon?" Rebekah asked, her eyes never leaving the screen in front of her. Hope hesitated for a split second, but then plastered a smile on her face.

"Why not? I got out okay last time. Sophie, however…" She shot a sideways glance at the witch, who glared at her. "Just write out some directions for me."

"Where are you off to this time?" Klaus asked as he walked into the room.

"None of your business." Hope snapped. She hadn't accepted his apology yet.

"She's searching for your baby mama, since you have no interest in finding the woman yourself." Rebekah explained absentmindedly.

"I'll get the directions to you; I just need to handle something." Sophie told Hope before hurrying out of the room. They waited until they heard the front door shut before they continued their conversation.

"Do you even remember her name?" Hope asked Klaus.

"Hayley Marshall." He reminded almost instantly. Hope stared at him; she hadn't expected to actually get an answer. Klaus turned to his attention to Rebekah.

"Please, sister, tell me you're not still at it with the internet search. How does one begin, anyway? Just type in 'anonymous attics'?"

"Someone has to find Elijah, even if I have to search every bloody attic in New Orleans."

"Like looking for a needle in a rather large pile of needles."

"I remember details about the attic Marcel took me to. There were shutters on the windows behind Elijah's coffin."

"Well, that should narrow it down immensely. Myself, I prefer actual strategy as opposed to mind-numbing labor."

"Yeah, and everyone else is thrilled with your strategy so far." Hope agreed sarcastically.

"Can you speak without being sarcastic or rude?" Klaus questioned.

"Haven't tried it. Doesn't sound fun." Hope explained. Klaus narrowed his eyes at her and then continued:

"Marcel's delay in returning our brother makes me suspect he's no longer in charge of the situation. If Davina's loyalty to Marcel is strained, perhaps the young witch will be open to discussing a new alliance."

"As usual, your power grabs are more important than rescuing your brother." Rebekah smiled bitterly at him.

"I prefer to think of it as killing two birds with one stone. Rob Marcel of his secret weapon, bring our brother home. Now, where are you going, exactly?" Klaus asked Hope.

"Out to the bayou. As long as you don't sic vampires on me, I'll be fine." No need to tell him about her run-in with her werewolf protector. Something about having a wolf looking out for her was comforting and she was intent to keep it a secret, lest Klaus decide he could use it to his advantage somehow. She was starting to understand why Rebekah so rarely told Klaus about her plans, even little ones that didn't seem to matter.

"I fully intend to keep vampires away from you." Klaus promised, pouring himself a glass of scotch.

"I'm honored. Any luck?" Hope went over to look at Rebekah's screen. Rebekah shook her head.

"None. New Orleans is a city full of attics…" She murmured.

"Well, if you're going to be here, can I borrow your car?" Rebekah turned to look at her.

"You're not driving my car into the bayou."

"What am I supposed to do, walk? Sophie said this witch is pretty far away."

"You're not taking my car." Rebekah protested again. A pair of keys was slapped into Hope's hand and she turned to look at Klaus, but he was already walking out of the room.

"Can you drive?" Rebekah asked suspiciously. She knew that Hope was sixteen, the legal age for a license, but she also knew that Hope hadn't been given all the opportunities in life she should have.

"We'll find out, won't we?" Hope jingled Klaus's car keys and grinned. Rebekah smiled back at her, wondering if Klaus was going to need a new car in the morning. Then she turned back to her search.

* * *

Hope parked Klaus's car outside the run-down house in the bayou. Her braking was a bit jerky, but she had managed to drive herself there without dying or crashing Klaus's car. She reached into the passenger seat to grab her purse. When she straightened up, she nearly screamed.

A woman was standing on the other side of her door, looking at her through the window. The woman smiled and laughed softly.

"Sorry to startle you," she called through the window, "I'm Agnes. Sophie sent me here to make sure nothing happened to you." Hope pushed open the door and climbed out.

"I don't need a babysitter."

"You might need a driver." Agnes suggested.

"Don't need one of those either." Hope slammed the car door behind her; it was Klaus's car, she didn't care what happened to it. She shouldered her bag and motioned towards the shack-like house.

"Is that where this old witch lives?"

"Yes, it is. She's expecting you." Agnes led Hope inside. The house smelled strongly of tea, smoke and cookies. Hope had never been inside a circus tent, but she could now imagine what it looked like. Beads rattled and Hope turned around to face the elderly witch that walked out from another room.

"You're here at last!" The witch greeted her almost excitedly, reaching for her hand. Hesitantly, Hope let her take it. The witch held her hand, running her other hand over Hope's knuckles. Then she smiled tightly. "You've got power, little girl."

"My name is not little girl."

"Are you ready, Dorothy?" Agnes questioned.

"Yes. Let us begin." The witch went over to the coffee table, which was topped with candles and salt. The witch held out her hands eagerly and Hope handed over a piece of her mother's jewelry and the map. The three witches sat around the table on the floor, feet tucked underneath them.

Hope watched as Dorothy did the spell and candles flared around them. Hope crawled back as the map caught fire, but all the flames quickly went out as Dorothy opened her eyes and looked over at her.

"I know that magic. That's a Bennett spell."

"A what?"

"The Bennett witches, they're very powerful."

"And there's only one family of witches with the last name Bennett?" Hope clarified.

"The only one worth mentioning."

"So now what?"

"Find a Bennett; get her to do the locator spell with her blood. Then you'll find who you're looking for." Dorothy explained.

"Where would I find a Bennett witch?"

"That I can't tell you."

"Great, thanks." Hope hadn't meant to be so snarky and sarcastic to the woman that had just helped her, but it slipped out.

"I'll tell Sophie that everything went alright." Agnes stood up and headed out of the house. Dorothy pushed a cup of tea towards Hope.

"Have a drink before you go."

"Thanks." Hope took the tea, if only to be polite. As she raised it to her mouth, she glanced out the window at Agnes. She was talking to men that had gathered around in the driveway. Slowly, Hope put down the cup and forced a smile onto her face as she looked at Dorothy.

"I have to go call… my aunt… I mean, Klaus." She stammered over her words, deciding Klaus would strike fear into their hearts better than Rebekah. Either way, it didn't matter. She didn't have a phone; her old one was in the bayou and neither Rebekah nor Klaus had had the time to get her a new one yet. She headed for the back room, pretending to dig around in her jacket pocket.

 _I can go to the bayou, I said, I'll be fine, I said. Next time, I'm bringing Rebekah and a gun,_ she thought as she tried to open the window. It was locked tight and she had to fight it to get it undone. Footsteps alerted her to someone coming up behind her. She stuck her hand into her pocket, as if she'd shoved her phone back in there, and turned around to look at Dorothy.

"Klaus is on his way."

"No, he's not." _Don't use your magic; don't use your magic,_ she repeated to herself, though she was practically vibrating with the urge to brain-pain Dorothy. She glanced around the room, looking for some kind of weapon. Her eyes shot back up to look at Dorothy as Dorothy's hand went swinging towards her. She blocked Dorothy's hand with her wrist, looking at the needle. She didn't know what was in it, but she doubted it was water.

Dorothy grabbed Hope's other hand as she tried to punch the old witch, but Hope just smirked.

"I'm stronger than you." She hit Dorothy's hand away, jerked her hand out of Dorothy's grip and punched her in the face. While Dorothy was out cold, she turned to push open the window.

"Back there!" Agnes's voice called out from the front room. Any subtly was out the window now as the men came barreling into the room, so Hope followed suit. She sprinted around the side of the small house, but there were men guarding her car. She turned and ran into the tree-line instead, painfully aware that the men were giving chase.

 _If my wolf guardian is out here, now would be an excellent time to show up,_ she thought pleadingly. She listened intently to the approaching footsteps. She kicked it up a notch, sprinting all out, ignoring the risk of tripping over anything and landing in the mud. There was no wolf running to greet her and, while the thought of investing in a guard dog occurred to her, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She slowed just enough to do a complete u-turn and hide behind a tree. She sucked in a breath and held it, waiting. Men ran past her. As the last man passed the tree, she leapt on top of him. With her knees pinning his arms to the ground, she started beating on him. It didn't take long before the other men had realized where she was and came running back towards her.

Hope rolled off the man and grabbed a rock. She flung it at the nearest man and it hit him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Without bothering to see if he was unconscious or not, she charged at the third. About halfway to him, she saw the knife. She ducked under his arm as he slashed at her and got behind him. She locked one arm around his throat and grabbed his arm. Using his own strength against him, she stabbed the knife into his chest.

"Hope!" She looked up as Rebekah blurred into view. Rebekah quickly grabbed the man and snapped his neck herself before looking at Hope, appalled. "Are you trying to trigger your curse?" It occurred to Hope that killing someone meant every bone in her body breaking on every full moon, but she was too high on adrenaline to really care. Rebekah had solved the problem by killing the man herself, but she still looked at Hope in shock. Like it hadn't occurred to _her_ that Klaus's daughter, the hybrid, nature's loop-hole, the powerful witch, could be such an _idiot._

After a second, Rebekah glanced around at the two other unconscious bodies.

"Have to say, I'm impressed."

"How did you find me?" Before Rebekah could answer, another man came running up and aimed a shotgun at them. Rebekah darted forward, grabbed his gun and hit him in the head with it. Then she turned around and answered the question casually, like nothing had happened:

"Sophie's directions got my halfway, vamping here did the rest. Who are they?"

"People we should be either killing or getting far, far away from." Off Rebekah's unamused look, Hope amended: "I think they're witches or warlocks or whatever. They worked with Agnes and Dorothy."

"Who?"

"Old batty witch that lives about three miles that way." Hope pointed lazily and tossed her messy hair over her shoulder. "Now can we go?" Rebekah was looking behind her, as if she hadn't heard Hope.

"There's more of them. Run!" She ordered. Hope turned, just to see the numbers of men coming. There were about a dozen. She looked back at Rebekah.

"I can-." An arrow whizzed past her and impaled Rebekah in the chest. The Original collapsed on the ground and Hope raced over to her. "Rebekah!" She grabbed the arrow and pulled it out of Rebekah's chest, upset but not surprised when Rebekah didn't wake up immediately.

She heard something whistling through the air and had about a second to realize she should probably move before pain erupted in her shoulder. She fell over, managing to stay conscious by sheer will power. She grabbed the arrow and pulled it out of her shoulder, sick to her stomach with pain and the sight of blood, _her blood,_ coating her shirt and dripping from the arrowhead.

Her vision blurred and she could only make out shapes in front of her. Her head hit the ground and she blinked, her eyes staying closed longer than she wanted. She heard a howl right next to her head and tried to open her eyes, but it was useless. Something grabbed her by the shoulder and started pulling her away.

* * *

Rebekah groaned and sat up, her hand flying to her chest to check for an arrow. The arrow was gone and the wound was healed. She looked around as the carnage surrounding her. Her niece was tougher than Rebekah had originally given her credit for, but there was no way she'd done that much damage.

Rebekah jumped to her feet.

"Hope! HOPE!" There was no answer except the sounds of swamp life around her. She turned and headed back towards the old hut, her walk quickly turning into a dead vampire-sprint that got here there in seconds. She burst through the door, looking around wildly. Any witch that had been there had cleared out and there was no sign of Hope either.

 _Nik is going to kill me,_ she thought. Then it occurred her: she didn't care what her brother thought about her inability to protect Hope. She just needed to find her niece. Elijah wanted to protect her, Klaus liked her more than he would ever admit and Rebekah had to admit herself that Hope wasn't half bad. The girl had been through more trouble in the past couple weeks than anyone should have had to deal with in a lifetime, all because of a fact she couldn't control: that she was the big bad wolf's daughter.

Rebekah hit the call button on her phone and put it to her ear.

"Your daughter is missing." It might not have been the best way to start off the conversation because Klaus was immediately yelling at her.

" _What do you mean she's missing?_ "

"What do you think I mean? There's blood and bodies everywhere, someone's ripped them to shreds and there's no sign of my tormented little niece."

" _Keep looking, I'm on my way_." He ordered. He hung up the phone. She didn't have to look anymore; Hope wasn't in the house. Rebekah stooped down and grabbed the shoulder bag that was on the floor. It was Hope's, she was certain. It meant that Hope hadn't come back and then left again, which was what Rebekah had begun to hope for.

Klaus appeared, blurring with speed. Rebekah looked at him.

"Wow! You abandoned your quest for power to help out your family! Having an off day?"

"Who took her, Rebekah?" He asked, ignoring her jest.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? And who killed her attackers?"

"I don't know! I had an arrow in my heart. If it wasn't Hope who killed them, then-." She stopped abruptly as wolves howled in the distance. Klaus looked at her.

"Lovely. Maybe her mother's family will know where she is." Rebekah hurried outside and Klaus followed her. As they got to the porch, they saw Hope stumbling up the driveway; clothes soaked in blood and tattered. Rebekah and Klaus broke into a run to meet her halfway.

"Hope! What happened? Tell me what happened."

"I was unconscious, I don't know!" Hope snarled, in no mood for twenty questions. Klaus pulled her shirt sleeve aside to examine where the blood had appeared to come form.

"There's not a scratch on you. Did you heal or is this someone else's blood?" He asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"I don't know."

"What is with you two? It's always 'I don't know' about everything I-."

"Leave her alone!" Rebekah snapped, grabbed Hope by the arm and leading her over to sit on the porch steps.

"They drugged me. I'm tired of getting drugged." Hope moaned, putting her arms on her knees and burying her face in them. Rebekah let her sit for a moment before speaking.

"How did you escape? Outnumbered, unarmed? Those men were ripped to shreds!"

"There's a wolf. It protects me." Hope mumbled into her arm. Then she laughed. "I'm a witch that could turn into a werewolf and a vampire and my family consists of the Original vampires and I have a wolf that protects me against witches using bows and arrows." That laugh disappeared, though her shoulders were still shaking and Rebekah knew she was crying into her arms.

Rebekah looked at Klaus, wondering what he was going to do in this situation. If he noticed his daughter was crying, he didn't react to it. Instead, he was doing what he always did: plotting murder.

"The witches were supposed to protect you! When I get my hands on Sophie Devereaux-."

"If Sophie wanted her dead, there's a much simpler way to do it-." Rebekah started.

"It was Agnes." Hope choked out, without raising her head.

"Fine! Agnes, Sophie, it's all the same to me! I'll slaughter the lot of them!"

"Not if Elijah gets there first."

"Elijah? Did you find him?" Hope's head jerked up and she looked at Rebekah. Rebekah nodded, trying not to react to Hope's tear-stained face.

"He's been in touch, and he has a plan. All he asks is that we take care of you."

"Easier said than done." With that, Hope was back to burying her face in her arms. Klaus seemed to have noticed the situation, because he went and kneeled down in front of her.

"Hope, look at me." He ordered, none too kindly.

"Nik, leave her-."

"Look at me." He repeated, ignoring Rebekah's protest. Hope obeyed, still hiccupping with sobs. "Nothing is going to hurt you." Klaus went on, once he'd caught her eyes.

"Everything's trying and it's the thought that counts." Her sass was only half-hearted.

"Because they think that can hurt you. You are the thing that lesser men will learn to fear. Once they realize you are not some little girl to be toyed with, they will _fear you_ and with fear comes protection against all those who once wished to harm you." Hope seemed to consider this.

"The girl that lesser men fear would like to go home, crawl under her covers and sleep for a week."

"That can be arranged." Klaus smiled at her and Rebekah couldn't help but smile at him. Hope stood up, but immediately started to fall. Rebekah jumped up to grab her, but Klaus beat her do it, easily scooping the girl into his arms. Hope let her head rest against his shoulder.

"The girl that lesser men fear would also like to be carried home." With that, she fell asleep.


	9. Death to All Witches

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N This chapter is more of a filler chapter than anything else; I'm not proud of it, but it's necessary to get on with the plot.**

* * *

"We had a deal! You protect my child, I dismantle Marcel's army. And whilst I've been busy fulfilling my part of the bargain, you allowed Hope to be attacked and almost killed by a gaggle of lunatic witches." Klaus ranted to Sophie, whom he'd dragged to the house for a little chat. Sophie looked frantic.

"I had _nothing_ to do with it, I swear. Hope and I are linked, remember? She dies, I die."

"Then who were they?" Rebekah asked, crossing her arms.

"They are a faction of extremists. Sabine stupidly told them about some vision from the ancestors she had about the girl."

"What kind of vision from the ancestors?" They all turned towards Hope, who was sitting on the staircase, watching the three of them.

"She has them all the time. They are _totally_ open to interpretation. I'm guessing she's wrong on this one." Sophie said quickly, glancing back between Rebekah and Klaus.

"Well, how, may I ask, was this particular vision interpreted?" Klaus demanded.

"Pretty much that she would bring death to all witches."

"Ah, well. I grow fonder of you by the second." Klaus smiled over at Hope. Hope made no comment nor move to get up; she was still worn out from being drugged the night before. Sophie was experiencing fear and an adrenaline rush; she had no such side-effects.

"Sophie, look, I promised Elijah that I would protect our niece whilst he tries to win your witch Davina's loyalty. Why don't you tell me just how extreme this faction is?"

"Elijah's talking to Davina?" Sophie demanded, shocked.

"Yeah. As we speak, I imagine."

"I'm guessing she'll have plenty to say about that crowd."

"Do tell." Klaus invited.

"I... wasn't always an advocate for the witches. My sister was devoted, like our parents, and our upbringing was very strict, which drove me nuts. The minute I turned twenty-one, I left the Quarter to travel... and play. But, I wanted to be a chef, so I came back to Rousseau's."

"We're not asking for your life-story, Sophie." Hope snapped from the stairs. A smile tugged at the edges of Klaus's lips.

"Jane-Anne came and told me that the witches were moving forward with the Harvest." Sophie continued.

"What's a Harvest? Where a Master vampire can harvest power from its minions while they feed?" Hope scoffed. They all looked at her. She looked back them innocently. "What? Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Second episode? Never mind." She put her chin back on her knees and fell silent.

"It's a ritual our coven does every three centuries so that the bond to our ancestral magic is restored. We appease our ancestors, they keep our ancestral power flowing." Sophie explained slowly.

"And why haven't I heard of this?" Klaus asked.

"Because a Harvest always seemed like a myth. A story, passed on through generations like Noah's ark, or the Buddha walking on water. The kind some people take literally and some people don't."

"You being the latter?" Rebekah asked knowingly. Sophie nodded.

"They had the girls of our community preparing for months. Four would be chosen for the Harvest. They said that it was an honor, that they were special. I thought it was a _myth_."

"Was it?" Sophie's expression turned guilty, but Klaus's phone rang, interrupting the conversation. He answered it quickly.

"Marcel. Bit early in the day for you, isn't it?" Klaus paused, listening to Marcel on the other end. "Rather you than me. All that responsibility seems like such a _bore_." There was another, much longer pause before Klaus spoke again. "Dead witches in the Bayou. Sounds like less of a problem, and more like a cause for celebration." Sophie's head jerked towards him, now listening intently. "Oh, why not? Haven't been to the Bayou in ages. I'm on my way." Klaus stuck his phone back into his pocket.

"You can't go out there now. I need to gather the witches' remains and consecrate them. If I don't get to them before sundown, we'll lose the link to their magic."

"Those witches tried to kill Hope. I'd prefer for Marcel's informant not to find anything that would lead him back to us. Or, more importantly, her." He motioned towards his daughter, but he kept his eyes on Sophie. "Stay put. And save the rest of your story until I return."

Klaus started towards the door and Hope jumped up from the stairs, swayed and caught herself on the banister.

"Hey, wait!" She hurried after him and he stopped by the door. Rebekah and Sophie were talking in the living room, paying them no attention. "Those wolves in the bayou are my family, or at least some of them are. Sophie and I can both go out to the bayou and-."

"No." Klaus interrupted.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Marcel has informants in the bayou and I do not need you being attacked by anymore vampires or witches alike."

"Your concern is touching." There was a small amount of sarcasm in her voice; she was too exhausted to put much effort into it.

"Stay here." With that, Klaus left the mansion, the door slamming behind him. Hope turned on her heel and walked into the living room where the other two girls were.

"You're going out there anyway, aren't you?" Hope asked.

"I don't have a lot of time to get to those bodies and Klaus is not the boss of me." Sophie agreed. Rebekah rolled her eyes but Hope beat her to speaking.

"He's not the boss of me either. I'm going with you."

"No, thanks. Already got assaulted by Klaus once this morning. Don't need a repeat because he thinks I hurt his little angel. Anyone else remember when he was ready to let you die?" Sophie mused longingly.

"What if whatever is responsible for all those dead witches is still out there? We've already established that it likes me and hates witches, so you'll be safer with me."

"The second I need a little girl to protect me is the second that I've failed at being a witch." Sophie shot back.

"My name is not little girl." Hope snarled. Sophie said nothing so Hope continued: "The whole reason I am in this stupid little city is because I came to find my family. That pack out there is my family, or at least part of it. I'm coming with you."

"Or what?" Sophie challenged.

"I would heal from jumping off the roof. You wouldn't."

"You would hurt yourself to hurt me?"

"I'm selfish like that."

"You are both being idiotic!" Rebekah interrupted. "Klaus and Marcel are heading there right now. You two are not going anywhere."

"Distract them." Hope suggested. Rebekah looked at her. "You don't have to, of course. You could just let me get killed by Marcel. I'm sure it would be a nice little story to tell…"

"You are a true Mikaelson, you know that?" Rebekah snarled, suggesting it wasn't a compliment. Then she thought about it, considering it. "Do it fast, if you see a vampire, run." She ordered.

"So you're going to help us?" Hope asked.

"Are you going to give me a choice?"

* * *

Sophie, Rebekah and Hope trudged through the woods. Rebekah had called Klaus with the order to stall Marcel and was now looking positively disgusted at her surroundings.

"So, this Harvest thing, tell me more."

"Klaus said to wait."

"Yes. He also said to stay out of the bayou and yet here we are, amongst the crawly, buzzy creatures."

"We're here." Sophie announced. She didn't need to say that; the smell was overwhelming. The bodies were bloody and ripped apart; it looked even worse in the light of day. Sophie kneeled down to dig into her bag.

"Hey, look!" Hope hurried forward to get a closer look at a huge paw-print in the mud. On a nearby tree, there were bloody scratches in the bark.

"Is that a wolf track?" Sophie asked.

"No, it's a bunny." Hope replied sarcastically. Footsteps sounded nearby. Rebekah made a motion with her hand and Hope ducked behind a tree.

"Who's there?" Rebekah called out. A vampire approached and looked at them, shocked.

"An Original?" He immediately turned and sped away, leaving the girls staring after him. Rebekah cursed under her breath.

"I have to call Nik." She walked away, phone in hand. Hope started following the wolf-prints.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Sophie called.

"I'm following the bunny." Hope shot a sarcastic smile over her shoulder and continued on, but didn't get far before Rebekah called out to her.

"Hope! Stay with Sophie. I have to go help Nik." With that, Rebekah sped away and Hope went back over to Sophie, looking like a pouting child.

"What's with this interest to find a bunch of wolves anyway? I thought you wanted to find your mother."

"Well, I don't know how to find a Bennett witch, so I need to get some more information." Hope explained, leaning against a tree. "Now, get to work before I get a bucket of water and see if you melt."

* * *

It was hours later when Hope and Sophie finally trudged back to Sophie's truck.

"Those people, all this, because of a vision about my baby you don't think is true?"

"Look, I love Sabine, but she's the witch equivalent of a drama queen. I've learned to take little stock in whatever she says or sees. Just kinda wish she'd kept her mouth shut."

"The Harvest ritual thing... You said you didn't believe in it. Were you right then?" Hope questioned.

"No. I saw it with my own eyes. It was working. It was real."

"So, how can you be so sure Sabine's vision isn't?"

"Do you look forward to being the death of all witches?"

"If I'm suddenly going to become a mass murderer, a heads up would be nice." Hope explained.

"You're a Mikaelson. Sooner or later, you're going to have blood on your hands." Sophie scoffed, throwing her bag in the back and slamming the door.

"Murder doesn't run in a family." Hope protested.

"It just might in yours." Sophie told her. Hope didn't say anything. Sophie heaved a sigh. "You want a ride or not?"

* * *

Hope climbed out of Sophie's car and shut the door behind her. Sophie pulled away and sped off down the road as Hope hurried up towards the house. Rebekah opened the door before she was halfway there, looking relieved.

"And you Mikaelson's claim you don't care about me." Hope shook her head, smiling. Rebekah smiled back at her and took her arm, pulling her inside.

"I should invest in a leash for you. That was your _last_ trip to the Bayou." Rebekah insisted as they headed into the living room.

"I didn't see any of the wolves."

"What is your obsession with them?"

"They're part of my family, Rebekah."

"You've never even met them." She reminded Hope, pouring two drinks. She offered one to Hope, who hesitated but then shrugged and reached for it. Rebekah pulled it back, suddenly remembering she was dealing with a sixteen year old. "No, don't." She drained the glass and started working on her own. Hope rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch.

"To be fair, I've known you guys all of, what, a month? We're family, aren't we?" Hope asked, her voice hesitant. Rebekah smiled down at her.

"Unfortunately, darling, you're a part of this family. Your chance to run for the hills has passed. Do you want milk or cookies?"

"You're patronizing."

"Am I?" Rebekah asked absentmindedly, taking another drink of bourbon. She drained her glass and put it down before turning back to Hope. "Now, I hardly know a thing about you."

"Do you want to… _girl talk_?" Hope asked in disbelief.

"Hardly. I want to know about your life before this mess. What, did you live on your own?"

"I wish. Foster care." Hope corrected.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Spoken like a person who hasn't been in the foster care system. The parents, if you can call them that… they don't care. They ignore you, if you're lucky."

"And if you're not?" Rebekah asked, eying her suspiciously. Hope sighed.

"My last foster dad had a drinking habit and a bad temper. When I became his personal punching bag, I decided to come here and try my luck with my biological family." She explained. She watched Rebekah carefully. She expected some amount of sympathy, but she saw a look of disgust on Rebekah's face.

"There are Mikael's everywhere."

"Sorry?"

"Mikael. Our father. You see, Nik wasn't his real son. So he took out his anger frequently on my brother." Rebekah stopped, hesitating. Then she went and sat down next to her niece. "There were times when I was certain that Nik would be killed. He never was, of course, but the way Mikael beat him at times…" Rebekah stopped, looking at Hope, who was starting to look pale and sick. Rebekah put her hand on Hope's shoulder.

"Don't think about it. I shouldn't have told you that, considering your experience with your own Mikael."

"He hadn't told me that."

"He doesn't tell anyone that, at least not the way I told it. Nik isn't one to scrounge for sympathy."

"I noticed." Hope agreed, leaning back against the couch cushions.

"Find any wolves?" Rebekah changed the subject.

"Nope." Hope made a popping sound with her mouth on the 'p' and fell silent.

"Well, I ruined a perfectly fabulous pair of boots for nothing, didn't I?" Rebekah asked in disgust.

"Hey, my boots are ruined too." They held up their feet side by side to assess the damage.

"Well, mine were cuter." Rebekah told her.

"Mine can probably be saved; they were more durable."

"A sure sign of lack of fabulousness." Rebekah told her, very serious. Hope laughed and Rebekah smiled over at her, both of them letting their feet hit the floor again.

"It is nice to have a girl to talk to." Rebekah said after a moment.

"It's always been just you and Klaus and Elijah?"

"For the most part. I had three more siblings once upon a time, but they're gone now." Hope was interested now; she turned to face Rebekah, silently urging her on. Rebekah complied. "Henrik died as human; he was the youngest of us. There was another girl in the family, Freya, but she died long before I was born, before Elijah was even born. Then there were Kol and Finn, they were Originals. Finn was a mummy's boy till the end, when she tried to kill us. Kol… Well, he had his faults, but I miss him sometimes."

Hope was silent for a long minute. Then:

"Your family sucks."

"You mean 'our family'. Speaking of long lost family members, you never told us what you found out about your mother." Rebekah noted.

"Oh." Hope scrunched up her face and sat up straighter. "Dorothy said that the spell was done by someone from the Bennett line, whatever that means." Rebekah sat up straighter as well.

"Bennett? That's-." She stopped abruptly as the front door opened and Klaus walked in. Rebekah and Hope stood up.

"Nik, finally! What-." Elijah walked through the door, smiling. Rebekah stared for a second and then ran over to hug him tightly.

"Elijah! You're safe!" She pulled away to look at him. "Now that you're home, is your first plan to kill Niklaus?"

"Rebekah, where is our niece?" Rebekah looked disappointed, then confused.

"Hope-." She turned around, but the living room was empty. "Well, she moved fast to avoid you." Elijah frowned, troubled. Rebekah sighed and started forward to look for her, but Elijah caught her arm.

"I'll find her." He assured her.

"Try the kitchen. She's a teenager; she eats like she's forever starving." Rebekah suggested. Elijah nodded to her and headed off to find Hope.

True to Rebekah's word, Hope was in the kitchen. She was just sitting at the island, staring at her hands. Elijah walked into the doorway and paused.

"Hope?" She jerked like she'd been electrocuted and turned to face him.

"Hey, Elijah." She raised a hand in greeting awkwardly. He looked her over. She was a bit dirty, but she seemed unharmed. Her skin was a bit paler, but that was to be expected. He had a feeling she had rarely been out of the house since he'd been gone. His worry over her gone, he spoke:

"I'm glad you're alright."

"I figured you'd want to talk to Klaus and Rebekah." She explained, tapping her fingers against the counter.

"There is plenty of time to talk to them. I've already a conversation with Niklaus about his actions tonight." He assured her. Hope nodded but said nothing. "You are alright, aren't you?" He questioned. She looked back at him, surprised.

"Of course." She assured him. Then: "I like Rebekah; she's been watching out for me." That seemed to be all she cared to say.

"I thought you would to be happy to see me, after staying with Niklaus-."

"I am!" She cried quickly. "I just… I'm sure that I'm the reason you got daggered, so…" He looked at her and saw she was waiting for him to say or do something. He stepped forward, offering an arm. She took his invitation and ran forward. Once she was in his arms, he hugged her close. He had hoped she would have abandoned her aloofness about the prospect of family and, to a point, he figured she had. She just never seemed sure what to do around them.

"I wasn't sure what had happened to you until Rebekah came-."

"I never would've left." He cut her off. As if realizing how long they'd been hugging, Hope pulled away and ran a hand through her hair.

"Yeah, I just… You know, I was confused." She explained, trying to play it cool.

"We have to talk. Family meeting." Rebekah announced, coming into the room and cutting off any response Elijah could have had.

"Yes, we do." Elijah agreed. Rebekah held out her hand and Hope went over to her. Elijah watched as Rebekah, as if unaware she was even doing it, put her hand on Hope's shoulder and steered her towards the study. Elijah smiled; so Rebekah _was_ taking care of their niece. It was a relief; he was sure Niklaus was not nearly as open about his concern or love for her, if he had even came around to accepting he had those feelings.

Elijah followed them to the study. Hope and Rebekah sat together on a loveseat and Klaus stood leaning in the doorway. As Elijah explained what he knew about Davina and the witches of New Orleans, he knew that Klaus was both listening intently and watching them.

It didn't take long for Elijah to explain what he knew and, once that was done, the family slowly dispersed. After a few moments of thinking the study, Elijah went upstairs, searching for Hope again. Perhaps without interruption, she would tell him what had happened since he had been daggered.

She sat on her bed, combing tangles out of her hair. He knocked on the inside of her door and she looked over at him.

"Hey." She greeted him.

"What did I miss?"

"Ugh, don't get me started." Hope protested. But she motioned for him to sit as she started explaining everything he had missed.

Klaus stood in the hallway, watching as Hope told Elijah everything in detail, watching Elijah smile and nodded, encouraging her to tell him more. It seemed like the night before was more like a thousand years ago.

* * *

 _Klaus carried Hope to her room and set her on the bed. She had stayed asleep the whole journey home, thanks to the drugs in her system. As he set her down, she moaned and rolled over onto the middle of the bed, then woke up and sat up._

 _"Are we home?"_

 _"No, I've decided to put you in a motel for the night."_

 _"Is that how I act all the time?" Hope grimaced. Klaus smiled but said nothing. Hope scooted up to put her head against the headboard._

 _"Thanks, for… you know." She glanced around the bedroom and then looked back at him. "Could you shut that window for me?" He went over and pushed the window shut. She took a deep breath. "Thanks." When he turned back to her, he saw that she had pulled her knees up to her chest, still glancing around the room nervously._

 _"Nothing's getting into the house." He assured her._

 _"No one owns it; people could get in." She pointed out. Her eyes were still red from crying and she looked on the verge of crying again. Klaus went and sat down on the edge of her bed. "I know, I know, be the girl that lesser men fear." She said, as if expecting some long speech._

 _"Until then, take comfort in the fact that you are the daughter of the man that lesser men fear."_

 _"I can do that." She said sleepily, slipping down to lie her head on her pillows. She was asleep without another word. Klaus lingered there a while, until he was sure she wouldn't wake up again until morning. Then, slowly, he stood up and walked away._

* * *

Hope was lying back against her pillows, still telling Elijah everything. Klaus could hear his name more than a few times, but it was mostly 'and then this person tried to kill me', which he knew was an accurate way to tell her life story. Slowly, he turned and walked away.


	10. Fever

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope pulled open the fridge door, rooting through the food that had been thrown haphazardly in there. It was morning and, as usual, she was starving. Rebekah called it a wolf appetite; Hope called it human nature.

"Good morning." She jumped and her head impacted with the freezer above the fridge.

"Ow." She wasn't used to having Elijah around, evidently. Elijah came over, looking worried, but she shook her head. "I'm fine. Do we have a grocery list or a compelled minion that does the shopping for us? I need ice cream."

Rebekah came through the back door, dragging a trashcan behind her.

"Speaking of, add bleach." She went back into the living room and Hope watched her go, but then turned back to the fridge and grabbed a box of left-over pizza.

"I see they've been feeding you appropriately" Hope couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"I'm sixteen, almost seventeen for the record. I eat what I want."

"When is your birthday?" She had to think about it, a sign that she hadn't celebrated it much in the past.

"December 12th. Mark your calendar. I want a unicorn." Elijah smiled and decided it was high time to chance the subject.

"Back to the murderous witches. I have some concerns."

"You don't say?" The amount of sarcasm that Hope managed that early in the morning was impressive. "They're evil. They're vengeful. And let's not forget my life is still magically linked to Sophie, which is not comforting. Although, she's probably been to the hospital a few times, so _that_ is comforting." Hope mused.

"Yes, I think it's time we took care of that little problem." Elijah agreed. Rebekah re-entered the kitchen, dragging a corpse behind her.

"I am all for it. As soon as they're unlinked, we get to leave this crap town. Who do we have to kill?"

"Probably no one." Elijah replied.

"She's dragging a body." Hope whispered, as if he hadn't seen it. Elijah sighed.

"Alright, potentially everyone." He corrected. Hope put the box of pizza on the counter and turned to hurry after Rebekah.

"Rebekah, wait up!" She bounded down the back steps. Rebekah was just about to burn the body, but she stopped with the light still lit and turned around.

"Did you want to do the honors? Lighting things on fire is quite fun."

"Uh, no." Hope gave her a weird look. "Last night, you started to say something about the Bennett's witches-."

"Oh, yeah, that. I knew one, back in Mystic Falls. Cheeky little thing, always thought she could take us down." Rebekah explained.

"But she could do the spell."

"Yes, but you can't leave New Orleans and I am not tracking down Klaus's baby mama alone."

"If we can unlink me from Sophie-."

"Yes, Hope." Rebekah sighed, exasperated. "I will take you to New Orleans and we will find your mother, I promise. But it's no use talking about it now. Here, you're on fire duty. Make sure it doesn't spread to the house." Rebekah handed her the lighter and walked into the house. Hope stared after her and then looked at the lighter in her hand. With a shrug, she tossed it onto the body and watched it burn.

* * *

"It's just us again." Rebekah announced when Hope came into the living room, a plate of pizza in hand. Hope swallowed the bite she had in her mouth.

"What?"

"Elijah and Klaus are off to fix all our problems. We've been told to stay behind."

"Or-."

"You are not going after your pet wolf."

"He's not my pet."

"Oh, you have a gender for it now, do you?" Rebekah teased. Hope sat down on the nearest chair.

"I just think it's a guy."

"A hot guy?" Rebekah wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"How should I know? I haven't seen him in human form!" Hope shot back.

"Does this wolf have a name?"

"I'm sure he does. For now, we're calling him Wolfy and he shall be my Wolfy." Hope smiled and took another bite of pizza while Rebekah laughed and shook her head at her niece.

Suddenly, Hope yelped and grabbed at her neck frantically. Rebekah jumped up.

"What?"

"I got stabbed!" Hope complained, looking at the blood on her fingers. The wound had healed, but Rebekah pushed her head to the side to examine her neck anyway.

"It's gone now."

"It was like a needle or something." Hope rubbed her neck as if it was still sore.

"Do you feel alright?"

"I feel fine, but I know it's Sophie-related."

"Do me a favor and don't die on my watch. I'll never hear the end of it." Rebekah sat down on the arm of the chair.

"I'll certainly try my best." Hope leaned forward and touched her pizza. "And it's cold again." She complained. She stood up but immediately swayed and to sit back down.

"What's wrong?" Rebekah asked.

"I don't know… Did I get drugged _again_?" She cried. Rebekah slapped a hand to Hope's forehead.

"You're burning up."

"I don't feel so hot. I mean, I feel hot, but-."

"I get it." Rebekah stood up and grabbed Hope's arms. "Get up; we'll get you to bed." She pulled Hope to her feet and caught her as she started to fall. With Rebekah's help, Hope managed to stumble upstairs. Rebekah let her fall on the bed and dug her phone out of her pocket.

"I'm calling Elijah." She stepped out into the hallway as she dialed. Thankfully, Elijah answered quickly.

" _Rebekah-_."

"Get back here, now." She was in no mood for chit-chat. "Something's happened to Sophie and it's affecting Hope."

" _What exactly is going on?_ "

"I don't know. She can barely walk, she's burning up-."

"I feel like I've been micro-waved." Hope moaned from the bedroom.

"She feels like she's been micro-waved." Rebekah reported.

" _I will find Sophie and be there as soon as I can._ " He promised.

"Hurry; I'm new to this whole aunt thing and I don't know what to do." Rebekah hung up and went back into the bedroom. Hope was curled up in a loose fetal position on the bed.

"What can I do?" Rebekah questioned, nervously turning her phone over in her hands.

"Freeze me in a block of ice."

"I'll get you some ice water." Rebekah hurried from the room.

"You came to New Orleans big and tough… look at you now." Hope jerked up at the new voice in the room. At the end of her bed was Marc Lahey, her old foster father. "You thought you could handle it. How is this handling it? How is lying down and crying like a baby doing anything?!" He threw a glass at her head. Hope shrieked and rolled off the bed to avoid it, backing herself against the wall.

Rebekah rushed into the room as Hope looked around, trying to spot Marc again. The room was empty except for the two of them; there was no evidence anyone else had been there.

"What happened?" Rebekah demanded.

"There… He…" Hope stammered.

"Were you hallucinating?"

"I… Maybe." She slid onto the floor. Rebekah set the glass of water down and went to pull Hope to her feet and get her on the bed again.

"Let me see your neck." She pulled Hope's hair aside and sucked in a sharp breath when she saw that the puncture wound was back swollen and had the distinct look of a werewolf bite. "Oh my…"

"That bad?" Hope mumbled.

"Stay still. Drink this; keep it down if you can." Rebekah shoved the glass of water into her hand. The front door banged open and Rebekah ran for the stairs, meeting Elijah and Sophie as they came up to the second floor.

"What is she doing here?" Rebekah demanded.

"I'm trying to help"

"Help? You're the reason we're in this bloody mess. Do you know what they injected you with?"

"They said it was something that would kill Hope without killing me, but-."

"Werewolf venom!" Rebekah cut her off. She looked at Elijah. "She's part vampire, Elijah, and it's killing her. Why aren't they unlinked yet?"

"Niklaus can-." Elijah started. Sophie cut him off.

"Klaus's blood neutralizes the effect of werewolf venom until it passes out of a person's system naturally. _I'm_ the one with in my system, but it's not affecting me-."

"Which means that no matter who we give the blood to, it won't do a darn thing." Rebekah interrupted. Sophie nodded. Rebekah and Elijah both looked ready to murder someone, but before anything else was said, there was a scream from Hope. Elijah darted towards her room.

"She's hallucinating already?" Sophie asked.

"They got themselves a lot of werewolf venom." Rebekah agreed dryly.

"I may know a way to slow down the effects, or at least the fever. But I'm gonna need some special herbs."

"Then go get them." Rebekah told her, annoyed. She stopped and sighed. "You want me to get them, don't you?"

"A witch going to get some special herbs, especially after all the rest of the witches know I'm linked to her… I wouldn't get three feet into a shop."

"Fine. Happy to play fetch-girl. Text me what you need." Rebekah brushed past her, but then stopped and caught her arm in a death grip. "Stay away from Hope." With that, Rebekah was gone in a blur of speed.

Sophie jogged to Hope's bedroom and looked in. Elijah was trying to hold Hope down; she was frantically struggling, trying to get away.

"Stop, stop, let me go!" Hope screamed. Then, she stopped and Elijah slowly released her. Hope sat up and crawled back against her headboard. She was sweating, shaking and sobbing. Elijah looked over at Sophie.

"Rebekah left to get some things for me. If we can slow down the fever, maybe we can slow down the infection."

"Davina is working on unlinking you."

" _Davina_?" Sophie echoed.

"She doesn't know she's doing it, but it should be done soon." He assured her. Sophie looked at him in disbelief and walked away.

* * *

When Rebekah came back into the house, jars full of herbs in hand, she realized just how bad werewolf bites can get. Hope was on the floor in the living room, screaming and crying about something they couldn't see. Elijah was holding her, partly trying to comfort her, partly trying to contain her.

Rebekah shoved the jars of herbs into Sophie's hands and noticed three long scratches on the witch's cheek.

"What happened to Hope?" Rebekah's head whipped around to look at her niece again.

"Hope did it to me herself when I got too close." Sophie grumbled.

"Just make your magical potion or whatever." Rebekah shot back. She hurried over to Elijah and Hope and kneeled down next to them. "She's getting worse." She noted. Elijah nodded mutely, trying to restrain the struggling girl. Hope stopped and went almost limp.

"She's been going back and forth between hallucinations." Elijah reported. Rebekah put her hand on Hope's shoulder and brushed her hair aside. The wound on her neck was getting worse, if that was possible.

"You have a pool out back?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, but I don't think this is the proper time for a pool party!" Rebekah snapped.

"If we get her in the water, it'll slow down the fever… maybe." Sophie admitted.

"There's no cure for this. Slowing down the fever won't save her." Rebekah whispered to Elijah.

"I can hear you." Hope groaned from the floor.

"I know, Rebekah, but if we can slow down the fever enough to buy her some time-."

"I hope you're right about being able to unlink them." Rebekah cut him off. She shifted Hope so that the girl was leaning against her. Elijah stood up and went over to Sophie.

"I'll finish this outside." Sophie grabbed the bowl and jars, stacked them in her arms and headed for the back door. Elijah opened it for her and turned back to Rebekah and Hope. Rebekah was hauling Hope to her feet with some effort from both of them. Elijah hurried over.

"I got her." He told her. He put one of Hope's arms around his shoulders and scooped the half-conscious girl into his arms. Rebekah followed them out to the edge of the pool. Elijah set her down on the edge. Rebekah sat behind her to help hold her up and jerked her head towards Sophie.

"Help the witch." Elijah hurried over, but Sophie was just finishing up. Rebekah felt Hope's forehead.

"She's burning up!" She called over to them. _And almost unconscious and hallucinating and dying_ , she added in her head.

"Get in her in the water!" Sophie called. Elijah took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves before jumping into the pool. He held his arms out to get Hope.

"No, no… I can't… He's here and… I can't." Hope moaned incoherently.

"Get in the pool, darling." Rebekah insisted. Despite her protests, Rebekah got Hope in the water. Elijah held her up; she was on the shallow end, so it only came up to her waist, but she was having trouble standing up straight. Sophie came down the steps into the pool with a bowl full of herbs.

"I still don't see how this is going to help!" Rebekah told her.

"If we can cool her down, we can slow down the infection."

"This is werewolf venom, not a common fever!" Sophie ignored her, wading over to Hope and Elijah. She handed Elijah the herbal concoction.

"Get her to drink this." Elijah held it to her lips and Hope obediently choked it down, but then turned away, coughing. Rebekah took the bowl back and set it on the edge, watching them carefully.

"You're going to have to get her heart rate and blood pressure down."

"How do you suggest I do that?"

"Hold her. It's a natural human remedy to slow heart rate and reduce blood pressure."

"None of us here are human." Rebekah pointed out, perhaps just to be nasty to the witch. Elijah swung Hope into his arms, backing up further into the pool so just her head and neck were above the water.

"Davina will break the link, we just need time." Elijah assured her. Rebekah looked at him doubtfully but said nothing as she squatted by the edge of the pool, hands clasped together tightly.

"You're going to drown. You're going to die." It was a voice only Hope heard, but the thought that it was a hallucination didn't cross her mind. She started thrashing around, trying to get away, trying to get out of the water.

Elijah was struggling to hold her and failed. Hope rolled out of his grip and landed completely in the water. Elijah grabbed her again, holding her up so she could breathe. She was sobbing again, but too weak to thrash around anymore. Rebekah groaned from the edge of the pool and quickly got her high heels off.

"Perfectly good outfit; dry-clean only…" She grumbled. She slipped into the pool and waded over to Elijah and Hope. She helped Elijah swing Hope back into his arms.

"Shush, it's okay." Rebekah told her, though her voice was far too nervous to be comforting. Hope coughed and blood dribbled out of her mouth. Rebekah looked over at Sophie.

"I thought this was supposed to help!"

"I said it would slow it down, maybe."

"You are worthless, you know that!" Rebekah snapped.

"Rebekah." Elijah scolded, his voice tight. She turned back to Hope and pushed soaked locks of hair out of her face. Hope coughed again, more blood coming out of her mouth. Then she was hyperventilating.

"I can't breathe… I can't… I can't breathe!"

"You're fine. Breathe." Rebekah insisted.

"Long, deep breathes, Hope." Elijah instructed.

"What… do you think… I'm trying… to do?" Hope snarled, coughing again and then going back to hyperventilating and wheezing.

"Just focus on the sound of my voice." Elijah told her, lowering his voice to a whisper. "You'll be okay, I give you my word." _Don't make promises you can't keep,_ Rebekah thought bitterly. She put her hand on Hope's forehead and immediately had to jerk her hand away.

"Sophie!" She growled.

"There's nothing more I can do. If she dies, I might just die too!" Rebekah didn't know how the werewolf venom interfered with the linking spell, but she didn't want to ask for details. Hope was too weak to thrash, but she was sobbing, coughing and hyperventilating all at once. Elijah was still talking to her, trying to get her to focus, but the teenager wasn't cooperating in the least. Rebekah ground her teeth together.

"Hope." She cut Elijah off mid-sentence; it obviously wasn't working anyway. "You're hallucinating. You can breathe. You're fine. Focus!"

Then it was over. Hope was breathing properly, if not still choking on her sobs. Rebekah looked at Sophie.

"I just felt it lift." Rebekah sighed and Hope started to slowly calm down. Elijah set her on her feet, but she started to fall. Rebekah and Elijah held her between them as they headed towards the edge.

"Come on. Up here." Rebekah instructed absentmindedly as they helped Hope out of the pool. Hope sat on the edge, shivering. Rebekah hurried over to grab a towel.

"Elijah, as soon as your brother finds out that the link is broken, he'll kill Agnes. I _know_ you don't owe me anything, but _please,_ don't let him kill her." Sophie pleaded. Elijah went over to the table and pulled his phone out of his jacket. "Elijah! She's our only access to the power we _need_ to survive. Promise me that you'll stop him!" Elijah continued to ignore her as she dialed a number.

"It's me, where are you?" He asked into the phone. "Don't hurt her. I'll be there shortly." He hung up and turned to Sophie. "I'll make you one last promise. I won't let my brother kill Agnes." Sophie nodded at him gratefully.

Elijah picked up his jacket and shoes. He went over to Hope as Rebekah wrapped her tightly in a towel. Rebekah looked up at him.

"Go. I'll stay with her." Elijah nodded and started away, but Rebekah caught his wrist, pulling him down to their level. "Make a promise to me. Kill Agnes."

"No one hurts my family and lives." He agreed. Rebekah nodded and released him. She turned back to Hope as Elijah hurried away.

"Come on, get up. We'll get you inside." She whispered gently. Hope let Rebekah pull her to her feet and lead her inside, leaving Sophie to go around the house and drive home. Ignoring the fact that they were both soaking wet, Rebekah pushed Hope onto the couch and sat down next to her.

"It's alright now. Are you okay?" She asked after a minute.

"I don't know…" Hope whispered. She thought for a moment. "I… I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. I thought someone was trying to kill me… or I was trying to kill you guys and…" Hope stopped, pulling the towel tighter around her. Rebekah was silent for a minute.

"It wasn't real, it's alright." There was a loud knocking on the door. Rebekah sighed. "Stay here." She went to answer the door and saw a man standing there.

"Who are you?"

"Josh. I, uh… Klaus is using me… I'm his informant. Is that what you call it?"

"I don't care." Rebekah started to shut the door, but Josh spoke quickly.

"Where is he? I've been trying to find him all day. Marcel _knows_ that Klaus lied to him about where he lives." Rebekah considered this, but decided she didn't care.

"That is your and Klaus's problem. I'm not my brother's keeper. Find him on your own."

"Fine! Just... tell him to call me, please." He pleaded. Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine." Rebekah agreed. She shut the door with another sigh and headed back towards the living room. "Hope? I'll get you some dry clothes, just sit and rest for a while, alright?" Hope nodded mutely, so Rebekah headed up the stairs towards Hope's bedroom. She dug around the teenager's closet, trying to find something that wasn't denim shorts or old tank tops. She heard the knock on the door loud and clear.

"That's Klaus's minion, just tell him to go away." Rebekah called downstairs, stooping down to dig through a drawer. She listened carefully, but Hope's footsteps told her that she was walking easily enough. The front door creaked as it swung open.

"Hi there, I'm Marcel. I don't think we've met." Rebekah straightened up and sped downstairs, making it to the door in record time.

"Rebekah." Marcel greeted her. Rebekah pushed Hope away.

"I'll handle our guest." For once, Hope complied without argument, hurrying back to the living room. Rebekah kept her eyes on Marcel.

"Here I thought you Mikaelsons were living in the hotel."

"We needed more room. Hope you don't mind." Rebekah flashed a smile at him.

"Who's the girl?"

"Who? Oh, that one. She's our maid." Rebekah lied smoothly.

"Looks young."

"Well, I don't chit-chat with her much, wouldn't know." Rebekah shrugged it off. Marcel looked at her for a second and then smiled at her.

"I'll be on my way, then. I was just curious who was here."

"Just us. Do you want to come in?" Rebekah invited, knowing he would say no. He shook his head.

"I got a kingdom to run! I don't stick around this place anymore." He told her, smiling.

"Well thing, you'd better get back to that." Rebekah shut the door and sucked in a breath, knowing she'd just failed miserably at acting normal. The sound of shattering glass sounded in the living room and Rebekah whirled around.

"Hope?" No answer. Rebekah ran into the living room. A vase from an end table was shattered on the floor, the back door was open and there was no sign of Hope. Rebekah ran out into the back yard and looked around. "Hope?!"

* * *

Rebekah trudged back into the living room; looking around again, as if she expected Hope to be there. She had spent half an hour looking for Hope, only to come up empty-handed. Elijah and Klaus walked into the room.

"Where is Hope?" Klaus demanded, looking anxious. Under any other circumstances, she would've had a snarky comment about his reaction.

"I don't know." Her brothers stared at her. Rebekah swallowed hard. "Marcel was here. He left and I heard a crash in here and when I came here, she was gone."

"Marcellus…" Klaus growled, turning and heading towards the door again. Elijah went to follow him.

"What do I do?" Rebekah called after them.

"Stay here in case someone returns." Elijah instructed.

"I'm not staying here while you-." She started to complain, but they were already out the door. Rebekah stood staring after them, angry with them and herself.


	11. Sins of the Father

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope woke up in the back of a SUV. Her wrists were tied and the pain in her head that she'd been knocked out. She tried to remember what had happened as she worked on getting her wrists untied. She remembered someone grabbing her by the back door while Rebekah had talked to Marcel. She thought she remembered kicking over a vase, but she wasn't sure. She was trying to decide what was real and what wasn't; she still felt like throwing or passing out from the werewolf venom that had been in her system.

The car stopped. Hope frantically got the bindings off her wrists and wrapped the rope once around her wrists, leaving a good section of it free for choking the driver. The back door opened and she leapt at the driver, knocking him back a few feet. She tried to wrap the rope around his throat to choke him, but he easily grabbed her arms and threw her to the ground, knocking the breath out of her.

Hope kicked at his head, but he dodged her feet and got to work zip-tying her wrists again. She sent a wave of pain to his head and he let out a yell, his grip on her loosening. She jumped up and ran into the tree-line. She barely got two feet into the trees before the man darted in front of her again, grabbing her and throwing her to the ground again.

"Try that again and I _will_ hurt you." He snarled.

"Who are you?"

"Tyler Lockwood. You're Hope Mikaelson." It wasn't a question.

"My family is going to kill you!" She threatened as he zip-tied her ankles together so she couldn't run away again.

"I can hold my own." He pulled her roughly into a sitting position. "You know you can't beat a hybrid, so you'd better start cooperating."

"You're a hybrid?" Hope asked in disbelief.

"The only one left, besides _Klaus_." He spat out Klaus's name like it was dirt. Hope was sure that Klaus had done something horrid to him, but she still didn't think it was fair that she was going to get punished for it. Tyler hauled her to her feet and swung her over his shoulder.

She didn't know how long Tyler carried her through the bayou, but all the blood had rushed to her head by the time he finally set her right side up. She fell over onto the front steps of a shack and looked around.

"What is this place?"

"The armpit of Louisiana." He replied.

"You're all class." Tyler ignored her as he pulled a knife out of his pocket. Hope started to inch away, as much as she could with all her limbs bound. "What are you gonna do with that?"

"Depends on you." He grabbed her ankles and cut the zip-tie on her ankles.

"The witches got the venom from you." She realized.

"They wanted my venom in exchange for a location on you." He explained absentmindedly. He looked at her. "What, did they try to use the venom on you?"

"They succeeded."

"Well, I'm sure your daddy healed you up real quick." Tyler told her bitterly.

"It wasn't as simple as that." Hope snarled back. Tyler didn't seem concerned. He motioned around at the camp they were in; Hope glanced around. It was run-down; she couldn't imagine having to live in a place like what she saw.

"That birthmark on your back? That means you come from a big-shot family. Some kind of royalty for the werewolves of this region. And right here… This is all that's left of them." Hope spotted a blonde woman standing in the tree-line, watching them.

"Hey! Help me!" The woman immediately ran away.

"They can't help you! They're in the woods, hiding, because they were persecuted for decades by vampires." Tyler explained. Another man walked up.

"Is that her?"

"Yeah, Dwayne. Get her inside." Dwayne grabbed Hope and started pulling her towards the shack.

"No, no!" She struggled against him and considered using magic, but Tyler glared at her and she knew she wouldn't make it two feet if she tried anything. "My family is going to kill you! Elijah, Klaus, Rebekah, they'll kill you!" Hope yelled at him. Dwayne shoved her into the shack and she hit the floor hard. She crawled over to the back wall to get some distance between them. Dwayne caught her and got another zip-tie from his pocket. In seconds, she was zip-tied to the fire stove.

Dwayne left, letting the door bang shut behind him. Hope tried to get her hands free, but they only got tighter. She looked around for something sharp, but couldn't see anything within her reach. She put her forehead against the fire-stove and closed her eyes.

 _Please, please, help,_ she wasn't sure who she wanted to help her, but she knew she was royally screwed if no one came for her. Klaus would tear Tyler apart; he may not have been a great dad, but he did get angry when people messed with her. No one hurt Elijah's family and lived and she counted this as 'hurt'. Rebekah was weirdly protective. Then there was her wolf. What had she and Rebekah agreed to call him? Wolfy? Wolfy would be useful right about now, but somehow, she figured that she was out of luck.

Tyler walked in and she looked up at him.

"They'll kill you."

"Don't you have any other threats? What makes you think I'm afraid to die?"

"You're crazy." She told him. Dwayne walked back into the shack and Tyler glanced at him.

"You ready for this?"

"Let's do it." Tyler took his knife and went over to Hope. She kicked out at him, trying to keep him away from her, but he pinned her legs down with one hand and cut into her arm with the knife. Dwayne handed him a glass and Tyler let the blood drip into the glass. Then he handed it back to Dwayne as they both backed away from Hope.

Dwayne drained the glass and Hope shot him a disgusted look; what was with the obsession about drinking blood in New Orleans? Tyler reached over and snapped Dwayne's neck. Hope stared in shock.

"You're crazy." She repeated in a whisper.

"Don't get all judgy! Dwayne knew what he was getting into. He volunteered!"

"For you to kill him?" Hope demanded.

"Dwayne is a werewolf who died with _your_ blood in his system. The _same_ blood you share with your psychotic father." Tyler pointed out. Hope thought for a second and then looked at him in shock.

"You're trying to turn him into a hybrid? That's impossible! I'm not a hybrid, not yet!"

"You're something new entirely. I've been running with wolf packs all over the country. One of them was tight with a witch. She had nightmare visions about you and how Klaus could use you blood to make an army of hybrid slaves."

"I'm _sick_ of witches saying I'm going to kill everyone-."

"You might not, but your blood, your family, will."

"Why do you want to make more hybrids?" Hope changed the subject.

"Hybrids are the most powerful creatures in the supernatural world. I need to make Klaus pay for what he's done to me! If you haven't noticed, these people don't have much to live for. They'd _all_ welcome the chance to become the superior species. Trouble is, all hybrids are sired to Klaus. They follow his every move. No way I let that happen."

"How can you be so sure that Klaus knows what my blood can do?"

"Klaus Mikaelson, killer of men, women and puppies, all of a sudden wants to be a daddy? Or, he's got an ulterior motive. Hybrids can walk in the sun. Their bite is _lethal_ to vampires."

"I'm well aware what venom can do!" Hope snapped at him.

"The point is, they'll take over New Orleans by the end of the week. And you know what's going to stop Klaus then? Nothing." There was a gasp and they both turned towards Dwayne as he sat up.

"You're gonna have to feed on her."

"Bite me!" Hope snapped.

"I'm not going to, he is."

"I wasn't being literal, Tyler!" Tyler stepped on her legs to prevent her from kicking him and then stooped down to cut into her neck. She let out a yell and desperately tried to kick at him, but he was already out of her reach.

"Do it, before she heals." Tyler ordered. Dwayne hurried over to Hope and fed on her neck. Hope screamed and struggled, but it was a minute before Dwayne stopped feeding, only to fall to the floor, convulsing. Tyler grabbed him and hauled him out of the shack. Hope listened, but couldn't hear anything.

Finally, Tyler came back into the shack.

"It worked, didn't it? He's a hybrid." Hope guessed.

"If Klaus gets a hold of you again… He wins."

"He hasn't tried to use me." Hope shot back.

" _Yet_." Tyler stressed the word. He stooped to pick the knife up off the floor.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, it won't work! I have vampire blood in my system!"

"If you don't stay dead, I'll rip out your heart and see what that does." Tyler told her. He started towards her and she screamed, hoping that someone, anyone would hear her.

Dwayne rushed into the shack.

"Get away from her!"

"What do you care?" Tyler demanded.

"I _said_ get away!"

"You got what you wanted, now get lost!" Tyler snapped, annoyed. Hope stared at Dwayne and then put on her most helpless, pleading voice.

"Dwayne, he's gonna kill me! And he's gonna kill you, too! He said that hybrids are too dangerous to live! You _need_ to stop him!"

"SHUT UP!" Tyler shouted at her. Dwayne tossed Tyler across the room and ran to tackle him as he started to get up. Hope turned back to her restraints. She balled her hands into fists and the restraints got tighter. She jerked her hands down as hard as she could and the ties snapped, leaving cuts on her wrists, but nothing containing her.

She leapt forward, grabbed the knife on the floor and sprinted from the shack. She sprinted into the tree line and kept running; it was much easier running through the bayou with light to guide her. She half-ran, half-rolled down a hill and hide behind a tree to catch her breath and try and slow her pounding heart.

Hope heard footsteps approaching and bit back a whimper; what was a knife going to do against a hybrid? _Best case scenario, you kill him temporarily,_ she told herself, _worst case scenario…_ She didn't want to think about what the worst case scenario would be. She braced herself, listened as the footsteps grew closer and then spun around, knife raised.

Elijah caught her hand and smiled at her.

"Forgive me; I thought you were in danger. It appears I was mistaken."

"Elijah!" She dropped the knife and he released her hand.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Some guy named Tyler, one of Klaus's hybrids… the last one, I guess." Hope told him, breathless from her run. After a second, she continued: "He kidnapped me and kept me in some shack and then… I can make hybrids. My blood can. He thought Klaus was going to make an army of hybrids so he was going to kill me. He… he was going to kill me." The entire situation seemed to really sink in. Elijah sat her down on a nearby log.

"I would love it if people could stop trying to kill me for a day." She said after a moment.

"You were successful in making a hybrid?" Elijah questioned.

"Tyler did it, really. What's it mean if a hybrid is 'sired' to Klaus?"

"The sire bond allowed Klaus to command his hybrids; they had no choice but to obey. Even when they hated him, they found themselves doing what he told them, regardless what they wanted." Elijah explained.

"Dwayne, I mean the hybrid that Tyler created… He was acting like he was sired to me." Elijah was silent for a moment, then he sighed.

"I should take you home."

"Tyler knows where we live. What's to stop him from grabbing me again, or burning the house down around us?" Hope demanded, standing up.

"I believe Niklaus is handling Tyler."

"I want to go back there."

"Hope-."

"That hybrid is sired to me. I want to see if he's okay. Tyler was older and stronger…" Hope trailed off, her point made. Elijah slowly nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to convince her otherwise. He offered his arm and she stayed close to him as they quickly made their way back towards the shack.

Klaus was waiting for them when they finally got back. Hope started towards the shack, since Tyler was no where to be seen, but stopped dead when Klaus kicked a body off the porch. Hope flinched and backed up to be next to Elijah again.

"There you are! I was beginning to worry Hope had been drugged or poisoned again; she has a nasty habit of letting that happen. Perhaps you could shed some light on the situation. This appears to be a hybrid."

"His name was Dwayne." Hope told him.

"Well, whoever it was, I didn't sire him."

"I did." Hope told him. Klaus stared at her.

"Tyler took my blood, made him into a hybrid." She motioned towards the body, trying her best not to look at it. "He was sired to me, that's how I escaped." She added.

"He didn't need doppelganger blood?" Klaus questioned, intrigued.

"What blood? No… Just mine."

"He claims that you knew that. Furthermore, that you intended to use this knowledge to build an army." Elijah explained. Any interest Klaus showed changed to anger immediately.

"And, of course, you assume it's true. I mean, why else would I show interest in my own flesh and blood?" Klaus questioned. Before Elijah or Hope could respond, he went on. "A heartbroken little crybaby points his finger at me, and my own brother falls in line, eager to believe it! How quickly you believe the worst!"

"Oh, spare me your indignation." Elijah snapped back. Hope looked between them, weary of what was about to happen. "When have you ever demonstrated any kind of concern towards your child, beyond your own selfish pursuits? And what was it you once said to me? 'Every king needs an heir!'." He impersonated Klaus's voice oddly well.

"My big brother." He shook his head and looked at Hope. "So, you doubt my intentions? Well, I can't say I'm surprised, standing next to the noble Elijah, how can I be anything but the lesser brother? A liar, a manipulator-."

"What did I do? I told Elijah what Tyler said-."

"Yes, you tell Elijah everything. Meanwhile, it takes me half the night to learn you've been poisoned by the witches-."

"You're mad because _we didn't call you_? I wasn't in any state to be having a chat about who exactly we should call!" Hope was yelling now.

"Like you would have chosen me over Elijah in any-."

"You are such a five year old!" Hope snapped at him. "I am sorry we didn't call you. I'm sorry you're an arrogant piece of work. I'm even sorry that Mikael kicked the crap out of you on a daily basis. I know from experience that it sucks and it makes you want to do anything, _anything_ , to make sure you're not hurt again. But if you don't want to be seen as the bad guy, try, oh, I don't know, _not being the bad guy_!"

Once she was done shouting, the bayou was completely silent. Elijah was looking between Klaus and Hope, ready to get in between them should a fight start. Klaus was staring at her, as if he was trying to comprehend her words.

"Brother, if-." Elijah started after a minute.

"You and Hope have said all that needs to be said, brother. I'll play the role I've been given." Hope looked annoyed.

"Klaus-." Before she could finish, Klaus darted forward and bit Elijah on the neck. Hope let out a shriek and rushed towards Elijah as he fell to the ground. Klaus wiped his mouth on his hand.

"You two enjoy each other's company. You'll have much to bond over, once the hallucinations and dementia set in. Consider that bite to be my parting gift to you both."


	12. Bound by Blood

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope stared after Klaus long after he'd gone. Finally, she turned back to Elijah.

"Are you alright?" It was a stupid question; she knew exactly what he was going to go through with the bite.

"I will be." He assured her, getting to his feet. "The bite won't kill me. Like Niklaus himself, it's more than a nuisance than anything."

"Good, because I'm eventually going to need a ride home."

"Eventually?" Elijah echoed.

"I want to stick around a little longer. The pack, my family, they live here. I want to look around. But you should go home."

"I won't leave you here alone." He told her. Hope considered this.

"You willing to wait out a bite in the bayou?" He nodded. She sighed. "Fine. Come on, let's get inside." They headed into the shack together. Hope cast a glance around, just to make sure they were alone, and then started looking around. There were pictures, antique objects and books scattered around.

"You don't have to stay here." She said after a minute, glancing at Elijah.

"I know, but you said the people of this village are the only family you have left. I can relate."

"You're thinking about Klaus."

"Perhaps I was too willing to condemn him. In the thousand years that we have been together, my brother has committed numerous unspeakable acts. But, then again, so has Rebekah. So have I."

"So did I. Summer of '09." Elijah started at her in confusion. She shook her head. "My point is… Everyone's done bad things. It's just, most people die before the list gets embarrassing. For you guys, you have to live with a lot more crap than normal people."

"What do you believe?"

"Are you asking me about religion?" She asked, confused.

"About Niklaus. Do you believe he would have used you to make more hybrids?"

"I don't know with that guy." Hope admitted, shaking her head again. "One minute, I think he's protective, the next he's practically thrown me into danger's lap. This place is like a sauna." She complained suddenly. She went to prop the door open to get some airflow, then frowned and went out onto the porch. Elijah followed her, confused. She held a Bible lying on the corner of the porch. She turned it to the first page.

"Someone left this here." She told him distractedly.

"What is it?"

"A Bible, with a family history that goes back generations." Elijah stood behind her to look over her shoulder. Hope traced her finger down the page to last two names.

 _Andrea Labonair – 6th June, 1975_

 _Zoë Labonair – 12th December, 1995_

"When were you born again?" Elijah asked. Hope stared at the page for another moment before she answered, sounding like she was in a daze.

"December 12th, 1995. I'm Zoë Labonair."

* * *

Elijah tossed and turned restlessly on the bed inside the shack. Hope hurried over with a glass of water.

"Here, drink this." He obeyed, but immediately coughed it back up. Hope set the cup down and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Remind me to annihilate your father once you're… not looking like death." She told him.

"Yes, remind me to remind you to get in line." He started coughing again.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Please, just... return to your reading."

"I went through the whole thing. It's just a regular Bible... With an entry in a family tree that may or may not be me. But, you know, I've been a little busy worrying about you. I'm terrible at multitasking, evidently."

"Hope, please. This fever will make me unstable. And once the hallucinations begin, I'll start to see things. You must leave me here."

"I know what's going to happen, but I'm not leaving you like this. You didn't leave me, even when I did a number on Sophie's face and took some swings at you."

"You couldn't hurt me."

"Ouch, offensive." She complained.

"I could hurt you." He continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"Would it make you feel better if I promised to brain-pain you if you get violent?"

"Yes."

"Too bad." She shot back.

"Celeste?"

"What?" Hope asked, a second before realizing he was hallucinating. Elijah seemed to snap out of it and he shook his head, trying to clear his head.

"We're being watched." Elijah said suddenly.

"I'm sure we are." Hope agreed, patronizingly.

"I am sure of it." He told her. Hope started to stand up, but Elijah caught her arm to stop her. "Do not-."

"I'm just going to look out." She slipped out of his grip, far too easily, and went over to the door, which was still propped open. The blonde woman from before was running away again. Hope stared after her, but then slowly returned to the bed.

"It's fine; she's gone now." She reported. Elijah didn't answer; he was writhing restlessly as he hallucinated. Hope sighed and sat on the bed next to him. His jacket was hanging on a chair nearby; she leaned forward and grabbed his phone from the pocket. There was no signal. _No calling Rebekah,_ she thought. She put the phone back into the jacket pocket.

"Hope, please." Elijah moaned. Hope turned back to him.

"What can I do?"

"This fever. My mind is flooded with these torturous memories. You have to leave."

"What is your deal? You don't like people taking care of you?"

"There are consequences for those that care about this family. I will not have you pay that price."

"So you get to care about me and say that I'm a part of this family, but it doesn't work both ways?" Hope demanded.

"Celeste. Forgive me. I'm sorry."

"Well, that's one way to avoid answering the question…" Hope murmured. She crossed her legs underneath her and put her hand in his.

* * *

Hope woke up with a jerk as Elijah let out a yell. She sat up, not even able to remember when she'd fallen asleep. Elijah was beside her on the bed, thrashing around.

"Elijah!" She reached towards him, not even sure what she was going to do. He grabbed her in a choke hold. They rolled onto the floor; he tightened his grip so she couldn't breathe.

"Niklaus! I'll kill you!"

"Elijah!"

The blonde woman appeared and staked Elijah in the back. He collapsed on the ground and Hope gasped for breath. After a second, she looked at the blonde woman.

"Are you going to run off again or can I actually talk to you this time?"

"I'm sure you've got questions." Eve motioned towards the porch and walked out. Hope hurried to follow her, casting a glance at Elijah on her way out.

"Only a thousand or so of them. Who are you?"

"I'm Eve. I'm following you because you brought an Original to Werewolf Country, which is pretty much the same reason why everybody else skedaddled. If you wanna know what happened to the people in that family tree, I'll sum it up nice and quick: Marcel happened."

"What did he do?"

"He killed most of them. Later, the descendants of the ones who dodged death, he strong-armed a witch into putting a curse on them."

"Werewolves are already cursed."

"Yeah, but he did something different. Swapped nature around, inside out. Made it so their natural state is wolves. They only turn back human on the full moon. We're hunted by the marks we carry. That crescent moon birthmark."

"The names in the family tree. Zoë Labonair…"

"Is you." Even smiled gently at her and nodded.

"What happened?" Hope whispered.

"Your mother survived the first attack and was sent away from the area, given a different name and everything."

"Hayley Marshall." Hope suddenly remembered the name that Klaus had given her when she'd asked.

"If my mom left, why am I in that book?"

"She came back once, saw us, wrote your name in that book."

"Wait, is she-?"

"She wasn't cursed with the rest of us. She was already… different." Eve explained. Before Hope could question her anymore, Elijah came out.

"Good evening. Think I might have something which belongs to you." He handed Eve the stake.

"Elijah. Are you okay?"

"The wound is healed, the fever is broken, but for some strange reason I have this sharp and lingering sensation in my back."

"We have to get home. But I'll be back, okay? I need to know more." Hope told her. Eve nodded.

"Keep that mark covered up." She walked away. Elijah turned to Hope.

"What happened?"

"I just met part of my family."

* * *

Hope and Elijah sat in Elijah's car as he pulled into the driveway. Hope was half asleep, but she straightened up as he stopped the car in front of the house.

"Oh, we're here."

"Quite the awkward little adventure, wouldn't you say? I'm sorry I tried to hurt you. I would never want that."

"I know. So who's Celeste?"

"That's not important."

"Thousands of years of memories and that's what breaks through your fever brain? Sounds important." She argued. Elijah hesitated, but then spoke:

"When we were first in New Orleans, it was a cruel and bloody time to be a witch, courtesy of my wonderful brother. She paid the price."

"She died because of Klaus?"

"She died because of _me_. Because I cared too deeply for her. I had allowed my brother to slip through my grasp. I loosened the reigns while Celeste consumed my every moment. I had abandoned him in the name of my own happiness. Celeste paid the price."

"So you were happy and he decided to end that? Not that I have a lot of experience with siblings but why don't you just leave? The family's broken, dude." She told him.

"To me, the very definition of the word ' _broken_ ' suggests that something can be fixed."

"And some things are just meant to be broken. You can't stop it." She told him.

"Nothing is meant to be-."

"Glow sticks. Piñatas." She cut him off. Elijah had to pause for a minute to recover his thoughts.

"I have a whole eternity to accomplish one single task: my brother's salvation. If I surrender this, then tell me, what value would I be to my family? To myself?"

"What value am I?" She returned.

"You have more value than you know."

"Okay. That sounds fake, but okay." She said tiredly. Elijah smiled and got out of the car. He went around to her side and opened the door. She seemed reluctant to move, but she crawled out of the car and followed him towards the house. The shouting could be heard before they even reached the front door. They hurried into the house, following the shouts to the living room to see what was going on.

"Elijah's home. There's only one dagger. Which one of us will you be punishing today?" Rebekah asked.

"I contemplated a game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe. You betrayed me. My own sister!"

"Niklaus, don't you dare!" Elijah warned. Klaus pointed the dagger at Elijah.

"Perhaps it should be you, brother! Stealing my child away-."

"Hey!" Hope interrupted.

"Wait outside." Elijah whispered to her.

"No." She shot back.

"Is that what it is? You are once again worried that you will be left behind? Has history taught you nothing? We don't abandon you, Nik, you drive us away!" Rebekah yelled.

"Is that so? What have I done lately, other than cooperate? I bow down to you, brother, to make up for daggering you. For the greater good of our plan to reclaim our home. Looked the other way, sister, while you repeat the same cycle with Marcel. Falling again for a man you shouldn't be with, while he controls the empire that _we_ built! _That he took!_ Now, I make no excuses for past sins. But in the one moment when you two could have chosen to stand by me, to believe in me, to believe my intentions for my own child were pure, you chose to stand against me, to side with my enemies. I wanted our home back. Now I have it. So, I'm going to live there. And the two of you... you can stay here together and rot." He shoved the dagger into Elijah's hands and grabbed Hope by the arm, dragging her out of the house.

"You're coming with me, Baby Wolf." He told Hope, pulling her towards the car.

"I am only getting into the car if you promise me we are going to Mystic Falls." She told him. Klaus looked at her.

"What?"

"I need a Bennett witch to do a locator spell to find my mother. Rebekah said there's one in Mystic Falls." Hope explained. Klaus said nothing. She sighed. "I will go with you, as long as you promise me that we're going to find my mother." She told him.

Elijah and Rebekah came out of the house and hurried towards them. Klaus looked at Hope.

"Fine. But we go alone."

"Go where?" Elijah questioned.

"Mystic Falls." Hope told him.

"Niklaus, if you take her back there-."

"What, people will try to kill her for being my daughter?" Klaus asked.

"Big whoop. Are we going?" Hope asked. Klaus looked between her and his siblings.

"We're going." He agreed. He opened the passenger side door of his car. Hope glanced at her aunt and uncle, but then got in the car. Klaus shut the door behind her. "Alone." He added to Rebekah and Elijah.

"You can't expect us to just let Hope go-." Rebekah started.

"But I thought I'd driven you away?" Klaus asked bitterly. He walked around to the other side of the car and got in, driving off and leaving Rebekah and Elijah staring after them.


	13. Boston

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Mystic Falls. Klaus hadn't expected to return, at least not so soon. The town seemed too… peaceful. He wondered what problems the residents had had to face since he'd left. He had a feeling he was the best villain they'd ever had.

"Where are we going?" Hope asked from the passenger seat; they'd flown to Virginia and now had a rental car to take them the rest of the way.

"The Salvatore Boarding House; the residents here conspire against their more powerful enemies there."

"So they've conspired against you, I take it."

"Oh, many times, I'm sure." Klaus stopped the car in front of large, old looking house. Hope reached for the door to get out, but Klaus stopped her. "Stay in the car."

"This is about my mother-."

"You have made that very clear, yes, but I would prefer to get the Bennett witch to do the spell without worrying about what they intend to do to you."

"Is there someplace we can go where people don't hate you? Besides the Artic?" Klaus didn't reply as he got out of the car and headed towards the house. Hope put her feet on the dashboard and crossed her arms, waiting impatiently.

Gravel crunched and she looked in the review mirror. Rebekah and Elijah were climbing out a similar looking rental car. Hope pushed open her door and got out to meet them.

"I thought you guys were staying in New Orleans."

"I thought we made it clear that you were not leaving our sight." Rebekah returned.

"Where is Niklaus?" Elijah asked.

"Inside. He wanted to handle the situation himself." Hope scoffed, nodding her head towards the house. Elijah and Rebekah hurried up towards the front door. Rolling her eyes, Hope rushed after them and followed them into the house.

Klaus had Stefan Salvatore by the arm, twisting it until Stefan was nearly on the floor. He held Damon Salvatore by the throat with his other hand, while Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie and Caroline stared, knowing they were unable to do anything about the situation.

"Niklaus!" Elijah scolded.

"I told you stay in New Orleans!" Klaus protested without turning around.

"Klaus, this is not how we ask for help!" Hope protested, more annoyed than surprised. Klaus glanced over his shoulder at her.

"And I told _you_ to stay in the car."

"Well, I didn't care." She shot back. With a sigh, he let both Salvatore brothers go and they stumbled over to join the rest of the group.

"I thought we got rid of you people!" Damon complained.

"We won't be here for long, darling. We just need Bonnie to do a quick little spell. We even brought the things Nik forgot when he was hustling our niece out the door like a trophy." Rebekah said, shooting her brother a death look. Everyone looked at Hope at her words.

"Niece as in…?" Stefan trailed off, waiting for someone else to finish.

"Nik's daughter. We all pity her." Rebekah said absentmindedly. That was exactly the wrong thing to say; Damon sped forward before any of them could grab him and had Hope by the throat, ducking behind her as the Mikaelson's all started forward.

"You come in here and threaten us and here you have something we can use against you? Did New Orleans make you stupid, Klaus?" Damon demanded, tightening his grip. _I'm not New Orleans anymore_ , Hope remembered. No one was going to come after her for using magic. It took less than a second for Damon to start yelling in pain, blood dripping out of his nose. He loosened his grip and Hope whirled, punching him in the face and knocking him to the floor.

Klaus sped forward to haul Damon to his feet, only to snap his neck and let him fall to the floor again.

"Damon!" Elena rushed forward, but Rebekah knocked her back into the living room easily. Stefan and Caroline were moving forward, but Elijah sped in front of them, giving them a look that made them reconsider their options. Bonnie held out her hands and Rebekah and Elijah stumbled back, grabbing at their heads.

Hope flicked her hand and Bonnie went flying back against the wall. Jeremy made a grab at her and she side-stepped, kicking him in the stomach. It barely fazed him; he swung at her. She dodged his fist and kicked him in the knee. As he went down, he pulled her with him and they rolled down the step into the living room. Immediately, Rebekah was separating them, shoving Jeremy back and pushing Hope behind her. Hope stumbled back and bumped into Klaus, who was rolling his eyes.

"Enough! We simply need you to do a tiny spell and we'll be on our way." He explained. Hope gingerly touched her busted lip and looked at Jeremy in disdain; he helped Bonnie to her feet and ignored the look he was getting.

"You snapped Damon's neck." Elena gasped.

"He could have ripped out his heart, be glad there's a child present." Rebekah snarled at her.

"Yeah, Klaus's kid. I'm sure she's a real sweet girl." Stefan agreed sarcastically.

"Are all of you really worried about her?" Rebekah demanded.

"Perhaps Niklaus and Hope should wait outside." Elijah suggested.

"But-." Hope started. Elijah looked at her and she set her jaw. "Fine." She brushed past Klaus, stomped past Damon's body and headed out the door. Klaus hesitated, but then turned and walked after her.

"Well?" Rebekah looked at Bonnie expectantly.

"What spell will get you out of Mystic Falls?" Bonnie questioned.

"A locator spell. The person we are trying to find was cloaked by a Bennett witch, only a Bennett witch can find her." Elijah explained.

"If someone wants to hide from your family-." Bonnie started.

"I don't think it was to hide from us, exactly." Elijah assured her.

"Our little niece has more people trying to kill her than we can count; her mother was probably trying to protect them." Rebekah added.

"You're looking for her mother? What, she wasn't with… your niece?" Caroline questioned.

"If she was we wouldn't be here, now would we?" Rebekah demanded.

"If I do this, you're leaving?" Bonnie clarified. Rebekah rolled her eyes, but it was Elijah who replied.

"You have my word."

"Fine. I need something-."

"Of hers, I'm aware." Rebekah interrupted.

"It works better with the blood of a relative."

"Hope!" Rebekah turned and called over her shoulder. A minute later, Hope came back in carrying the map and piece of jewelry Rebekah and Elijah had thought to take with them. Bonnie took them from her and set them on the table. Everyone stayed, almost hovering around Bonnie and Hope, except for Caroline.

"I'm going to… uh… I'll be back." She jogged out of the house to find Klaus. Bonnie paid her no attention as she grabbed a letter opener from the table.

"Give me your hand."

"I know how it works." Hope told her, grabbing the letter opener. She sliced open her hand and held it over the map. Her blood dripped and pooled onto the center of the map before her palm healed.

"You're a vampire." Elena gasped.

"She did a spell on Damon." Stefan pointed out.

"Yes, I'm weird, can we move on?" Hope asked, annoyed. Bonnie shook her head at the weirdness of the situation and started the spell. Hope backed up to give her space, just in case the map decided to catch on fire like the last time. Bonnie closed her eyes and started chanting, holding one of Hayley's bracelets in her hand.

The blood pooled together and slowly moved across the map. The Mikaelsons all leaned forward, watching it anxiously. It stopped moving and Bonnie opened her eyes, her chants ceasing.

"There. Boston."

* * *

"You have a daughter! That's why you left?" Caroline demanded of Klaus. They stood in front of his car; she kept glancing back towards the house, but Hope, Elijah and Rebekah hadn't come out yet.

"Well, that and someone has taken over my kingdom and he had to be punished for his transgressions-."

"Klaus!" Caroline cut him off sharply. He looked at her, waiting. "You have a daughter! Do you realize how… _unreal_ that is? Did you know when you were here, when you were flirting with me? How old is she?"

"You seem rather concerned with her." Klaus looked slightly amused, but Caroline remained angry. Klaus sighed. "I learned of her when I went to New Orleans."

"How old is she?"

"Sixteen."

"My gosh, she's sixteen and you just now know about her?! She grew up without a father-." Caroline stopped herself and squeezed her eyes shut. "Never mind. I'm shutting up. But… you came all the way back just to get a locator spell?"

"She seems very determined to find her mother."

"And you're helping her?"

"Well, she has a nasty little habit of running off when I don't humor her. I figure it's best to keep her on a short leash." Klaus explained. Caroline stared at him in disbelief.

"You care about her." Klaus didn't answer. "Oh my gosh… Klaus, you actually care about someone." Caroline let out a laugh and then put her hand over her mouth. "Wow. I never thought I would actually see Klaus Mikaelson caring about some-."

"You've seen it before." Klaus snapped, tired of her obvious amazement. Caroline's smile disappeared. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

"Don't. Don't flirt with me. Okay. We're… we're not happening." Caroline stammered.

"We're alone, Caroline. I am not coming back. Before I leave, I want your confession. Preferably before my daughter and my siblings come out."

"My… confession? I haven't done anything!"

"I know you feel something for me, Caroline. All I want is for you to admit it."

"I'm in college. I'm building a life for myself. I have plans and a future and things that I want, and none of those things involve you. Okay? None of them."

"I see."

"No, you don't. Because, yes, I cover our connection with hostility. Because, yes, I hate myself for the truth. So if you promise to walk away, then yes, I will be honest with you. I will be honest about what I want."

"I will walk away and I will never come back." Caroline took a breath. Then her lips crashed against his.

Klaus's arms went around her as she put her arms around his neck, keeping his lips against hers. She had never realized how long she'd waited for that kiss. _I'm kissing Klaus Mikaelson._ She knew anyone inside the house would berate her for it if she knew, but, at that moment, she didn't care. In the back of her head, she was counting the seconds the kiss lasted. _Seven, eight, nine, t-_.

Klaus jerked away from her and Caroline's eyes shot open.

"What-?"

"Hope."

"Who?" Caroline was still more than a little dazed. She didn't get an answer to that question; Klaus was already rushing into the house.

"What happened?" Klaus demanded as he ran into the Boarding House living room; he'd heard Hope's quick 'ow' of pain and spotted her leaning over the table, blood dripping from her nose. Rebekah and Elijah were hovering, hands on her back, and Bonnie was looking at her from the other end of the table. Someone had moved Damon's still dead body to the couch, Elena and Stefan stood next to him. Jeremy stood behind Bonnie. Klaus glanced around, wondering who he needed to kill first.

"She's fine." Elijah said over his shoulder.

"Clearly." Klaus said sarcastically. Caroline came in behind him, looking around in confusion.

"When's the last time she did a spell?" Bonnie asked.

"The last one that worked? Never." Hope replied; Elijah had handed her his handkerchief and she was busy trying to mop the blood off her nose.

"Look, obviously you're pretty powerful, but you need to practice a lot more." Bonnie told her, grabbing the map from the table. They'd printed out a new one, one that just showed Boston. Klaus couldn't see it clearly, but it looked like they'd narrowed it down a single neighborhood. Hope took the map, folding it up hastily.

"Now, can we get out of this one-pony town?" Rebekah asked impatiently.

"Thanks." Hope told Bonnie, though it was only partway sincere. "Let's go." She added, hurrying past Caroline and Klaus to get out the door, still holding the handkerchief to her nose. Elijah nodded once to the people in the Boarding House and hurried after her. Rebekah started to leave, but then turned to Caroline.

"Oh, also. Control your dog of a boyfriend."

"Tyler?" Caroline asked, confused.

"He's on a bit of a vengeance spree, thinks killing my niece is a brilliant idea. Nik drove him out of New Orleans; perhaps you can keep him on a shorter leash now." Rebekah suggested. She stomped past Caroline after Elijah and Hope. Klaus sighed, looking at Caroline, and then left without a word.

"What happened with you two?" Stefan asked Caroline after he'd gone. She crossed her arms.

"Nothing."

* * *

Hope had, evidently, learned to sleep anywhere. Klaus had to wake her up as the taxi driver stopped on the curb. Rebekah and Elijah got out on the street-side as Klaus helped Hope stumble out onto the sidewalk. Rebekah straightened her shirt with a huff as the taxi pulled away again.

"How are we supposed to find where she works? There are millions of places she could be. We've passed ten of those stupid little Dunkin Doughnuts in the past twenty minutes." She complained.

"Dunkin Doughnuts is pretty much a religion here, don't say that too loudly." Hope warned her. They all looked at her.

"Have you lived here before?" Elijah questioned.

"On the other side, but yeah." Hope agreed, looking uncomfortable. They quickly dropped the subject. "This is her apartment building here, if I did that locator spell like." Bonnie had practically made her do it; she had a feeling the Bennett witch had been testing her, to see if she really was a witch worth that was worth anything.

They all looked at the building towering above them. Then Rebekah sighed and started forward.

"Let's find get this over with-." Elijah caught her arm and pulled her back, nodding towards Hope. Rebekah glanced at her niece and got what he meant; she was hesitating, looking ready to bolt. Then Hope sucked in a breath and walked into the building. There was a gate in front of them, with an intercom set up to buzz each apartment.

Hope quickly glanced over the names and spotted 'Hayley Marshall' quickly. Well aware of Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus crowding close to her in the small room, she reached to push the button. The door swung open and she heard a sharp gasp. They all turned and Hope dropped her hand.

"Klaus?" A brunette woman, looking barely any older than Rebekah, stood with a shopping bag on her arm. Hope had never thought much of her own looks but, looking at the woman, she suddenly knew where she'd gotten her features from. The fact that she recognized Klaus, and the look on Klaus's face that was somewhere between surprise and annoyance, confirmed who she was, even though she looked way too young.

"Uh… I'm Hope. Klaus's daughter. You're-."

"Hope?" The woman echoed, sounding disgusted. Hope was taken back and the woman hastened to add: "That must be the name that the system gave you, not the one I gave you." Then she dropped the bag and rushed forward, pulling Hope into a tight hug.

"Mom?" As if it wasn't already confirmed. Hayley was crying into Hope's shoulder, clinging to her.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me."


	14. How It All Ends

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

"What happened? Why was I put in the foster care system? How did you get turned into a vampire? How come you couldn't find me? Why-."

"I'll tell you everything, I promise." Hayley cut her off. They were sitting in Hayley's apartment. It was small and decorated like an emo college dorm room, but it worked. Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah were waiting in the hallway; Hayley had refused to even consider inviting them in. She did, however, allow Hope to leave the front door open so that they weren't completely separate.

Hope sat on the couch, though she was itching to be pacing, to do anything to distract herself from her own anxiety. _I'm sitting with my mother_ , she thought. It was a thrilling, yet terrifying feeling. Until a couple weeks ago, she was convinced that her mother was dead. She had never thought that she would have the chance to see her, let alone talk to her and ask her questions.

Hayley sat on the edge of the coffee table, unable to take her eyes off her daughter. _She's really here_. She couldn't help but be proud that her daughter looked like her. Except for the way she carried herself, that is. While Hayley tried to make herself blend in, arms at her sides, head down, Hope was like Klaus. She held herself tall, tried to make herself as big as possible. When she talked, her arms went out, as if absentmindedly challenging someone. Just like Klaus.

Realizing that Hope was waiting, Hayley sighed and knew that she had to tell Hope what had happened.

"I… Klaus and I had this one night stand. I didn't know I was pregnant until he was long gone. Even then…" Hayley stopped, thinking. Hope was sixteen; she could take hard truths. Still, she wasn't sure if she wanted to explain that she would have told Klaus about her over both their dead bodies. "Witches were after us, something about you being unnatural. I had a Bennett witch do an anti-locator spell on us. I took you to New Orleans with me when I was searching for my family. I didn't have much, but… We were happy. I loved you. I _love_ you. If had I known… New Orleans wasn't the right place for us to be. The witches there were just like the witches everywhere else. I tried to get you out, but they were in the road. The car crashed…. I… I guessed I died. I woke up in the morgue and you were gone. You were put in the foster care system. You were… gone. I looked for you, I did. I just… I couldn't find you. I tried for so long but then… you wouldn't remember me. You wouldn't believe that _I_ ," She motioned to her twenty year old body, "was your mother, so… I gave up." Hayley's voice cracked and she looked away from Hope. _I gave up on her,_ Hayley realized. It had never really sunk in for her before. Just one day… she'd stopped looking.

What had she always wanted? Someone to fight for her. Someone to love her. And she'd stopped trying to give that her daughter. What did they make her? A hypocrite? Worse? Definitely worse.

"When did you become a vampire?" Hope asked after a minute. Hayley looked at her, wondering if that was really the question she wanted to ask. Hope didn't return her look; in fact, she was looking out at the Mikaelsons in the hallway. Hayley cast a glance at them, wanting nothing more than a moment _alone_ with her daughter. But she could see the obvious: they weren't going anywhere.

Klaus had his back to them, leaning on the doorframe. Rebekah had her arms crossed, staring at her shoes. Elijah was twisting his daylight ring around his finger. None of them returned Hope's look. Hayley looked back at her daughter.

"I died when you were born." _Great, Hayley. Don't sugarcoat it,_ she scolded herself. Hope was staring at her and Hayley wished she could take it back, even if it meant lying. The truth was, the birth was hard, no hospital, no painkillers, no nothing. Most of the time, birth ended with smiling parents and a happy baby. Other times, it ended with death. "When you were born, I died. I had your blood in my system. I woke up in transition. And I'm not a vampire. I'm a hybrid." Hayley explained.

"Because it was my blood and you were a werewolf." Hope agreed knowingly.

"Are you okay? I mean, what happened? You know about the supernatural world, obviously. How long have you been with the Mikaelsons?"

"I'm fine, more or less. I've been living with them in New Orleans." Hope explained, though that didn't answer Hayley's broad question of 'what happened'.

"New Orleans?" Hayley echoed. "I had hoped you'd stay away from there." The silent ' _and them_ ' was loud and clear. Evidently, Klaus thought so too.

"Now then, did it ever occur to you that we could have found her, if we'd known of her existence?" He questioned. Hayley stood up, glaring at him.

"I would have never let her be a _Mikaelson_!"

"Ah, yes, far better to have her grow up with neither parents."

"I don't know what exactly is going on in New Orleans or how you found me, but she is not going back with you, not where I _know_ people are trying to kill her!" Hayley yelled, stomping over to the doorway but keeping out of Klaus's reach.

"That is not your decision to make, little wolf-."

"She's _my daughter_!"

"She's our niece!" Rebekah decided to put her two cents in, looking absolutely furious.

"And I'm sure you're great with her. Do you take her to dinner? Blood bath here, murder spree here?" Hayley shot back.

"Perhaps we should-." Elijah started, trying to keep the peace.

"She is not a Mikaelson; she is not any of your guys' property!" Hayley continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"Exactly!" Hope put in and they all looked at her. "I'm not property, so stop fighting over me like I don't get to choose." She snapped. They were all silent, waiting, staring at her expectantly. She stared back at them. "Seriously?"

"She belongs in New Orleans-." Klaus started.

"She belongs with her family-." Hayley shot back.

"Which is _us_!" Rebekah felt compelled to point out.

"Arguing is not going to get us anywhere." Elijah told them calmly. Everyone took a breath and looked back at Hope, as if expecting her to have an answer.

"The only thing I am thinking about is getting something to eat. Talk amongst yourselves, if you so please." She snapped, any niceness long gone. Her family was fighting over her. It was like kindergarten all over again and she was the shiny new toy. If there was one thing that Hope could claim, it was that she didn't _belong_ to anyone. If they wanted to fight over her, she would let them scream themselves hoarse and then, when they couldn't scream anymore, she would tell them exactly what she thought of the situation.

Even now, though, she knew that someone was going to be angry. And that someone would be Hayley. She had to go back to New Orleans. Yes, people were trying to kill her, yes, she was in danger every second there. But she had a pack there, she had things to figure out, people to watch get destroyed. Staying in the small Boston apartment hardly even seemed like an option for her.

She just had to figure out a way to convince Hayley to come back with her. _I found her, I can't just leave her._

At Hope's words, Hayley started towards the little kitchenette.

"I have-."

"I'll get something to eat on neutral ground." She cut her mother off. Hayley looked at her, confused. "Not here." Hope explained. She brushed past Hayley into the hallway and they all moved to follow her.

"I'll go with-." Hayley started again. Hope held up a hand.

"No. I'm going to leave, get a doughnut, some coffee to wake me up and then when I come back, you guys will be ready to talk about this like adults." Hope told them. _Like leaving kids in time-out,_ she thought, which almost made her smile. Knowing it was no use to try and convince her to do something else, Klaus held out money for her. It was much more than she needed for a snack, but she reached over and snatched the bills without comment.

She jogged down the stairs, knowing that the four behind her were already arguing again. Hoping she wouldn't come back to a bloodbath, she left the apartment building and headed towards the nearest coffee shop.

She was starving and half asleep on her feet. She'd spent hours captured by Tyler, then hours in the bayou with Elijah and then, of her own accord, been on a plane, once to Mystic Falls and then up to Boston. She didn't want to count up the hours to figure out how long since she'd eaten; she just wanted a latte and the largest muffin or doughnut she could possible find. She wasn't exactly sure what a bear claw was, but she was open to trying it; she'd heard it was pretty big.

Hope chose a cafe on the corner; it didn't look very busy. The bell jingled cheerfully, which made her grimace. There was no line; she had her latte and muffin in no time. She stood by the magazine rack, glancing over the covers absentmindedly. She didn't want to sit down; that would mean falling asleep. She just wanted to finish eating and head back to her family, see if they were ready to talk like big kids.

One magazine in particular caught her eye and she leaned closer to read the headline. It had her picture on it. The headline told her all she needed to know:

 _Marc Lahey's Foster Daughter: Dead or Alive?_

 _Crap, crap, crap,_ Hope thought, shoving the last bite of muffin in her mouth. Marc was a business man, if you could call it that. Through bribes, lies and his inheritance from his daddy, he owned a lot of buildings in Boston. Nothing specific, just things he thought would make him money. It was mostly casinos, but he would jump on anything for sale that had potential. He fostered her because it made him look good. Also, it gave him money. Usually, that money was just enough to cover what the kids would need. He didn't do that right, though. He got about a hundred extra each month, which was nothing compared to his overall wealth, but, then again, he wasn't doing anything so Hope guessed it was like free money for him.

Hope glanced around the café, looking for a sign she'd stumbled into Marc's territory. She didn't have to look long. The woman behind the counter was on the phone, casting nervous glances at her. _Calling her boss,_ Hope thought. She could read lips fairly well. The phrase _she's here_ was easy to spot.

Hope bolted, letting the door slam shut behind her. She tossed her half-full coffee cup in the nearest trash can and patted down her pockets. Still no phone; she would have to talk to someone about that. _Of all the cafes in Boston!_ She thought, annoyed and amazed at her bad luck.

She headed back towards the apartment building; no one was going to mess with her when she was surrounded by vampires. She just hoped Marc wasn't in the area. Mentally, she mapped out the buildings he owned. Some of his casinos were near, but he wouldn't drop everything and race over to grab her, would he? She didn't want to know the answer to that question. She broke into a jog.

A car screeched to halt on the curb and she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder. A sports car, hot rod red and shining. The man that stepped out from behind the wheel made her want to scream. She broke into a sprint, but Marc caught her around the waist and threw her onto the hood of his car.

"I was just around the corner; I can't believe my luck!" He said. She shoved him off her as hard as she could, but she was cornered against the car either way. "Do you know how many questions the police are asking me? They don't believe that you just ran off! They think I killed you! If they had any more evidence-."

"I should have left some evidence." Hope interrupted. His hand smacked her across the face before she could move. She rolled over onto her stomach on the hood, nursing her already healing split lip. She glanced around; it was fairly late at night, but there were a few people across the street.

"Stranger danger, stranger danger!" She screamed the first thing that came to mind. She was only sixteen; that still worked, right? People turned. Marc took a step back on instinct.

"No, this isn't what-." _What it looks like? No. It's exactly what it looks like,_ Hope thought. She scrambled over the hood of the car, hit the street and took off running.

She could hear Marc's car starting up again on the curb. The apartment building was only about a block away, but her instinct took over. She ducked into a parking lot, practically sliding on the asphalt as she ducked behind a car. She sucked in shaky breaths. Witches? No problem. Vampires? Who couldn't handle them? Werewolves? Practically her best friends. But Marc? She couldn't force herself to her feet to even think of fighting him.

 _Why?_ She asked himself. He was human, in the loosest sense of the word at least. She could handle a human, couldn't she? She was a witch with vampire powers and a werewolf temper. He should have been no problem. But no, she was shaking, hiding like a child.

Hope caught sight a rock by her feet and held out her hand, trying to move it. Somehow, she already knew that it wouldn't work. She was right. Fear, fear kept witches from using their powers. She was afraid and it was going to kill her. She clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the cry of fear that threatened to come out.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her, hauling her roughly to her feet and then throwing her to the ground in the middle of the parking lot. Marc stood over her.

"I'm not the kind of person you want to play hide and seek with!"

"Who's playing?" Hope managed to get out, scrambling to her feet.

"Do you know the trouble you've caused me, you little brat?" He snarled, spit flying from his mouth. She backed away, but he followed her, keeping her within arms length. She tried to run, but he grabbed her again, throwing her to the ground. She rolled, coming to a stop with a groan of pain. Her knee was skinned up pretty badly, but it healed. Marc didn't notice or care. With no time to get up, she threw her hands over her head to protect her face from the kick she was certain was coming.

It didn't come. There was a thump and she looked up. Klaus stood over Marc's body; some part of her mind registered that he'd snapped his neck. Hope buried her face in her arms again, sobbing. _It's over, he'd dead, he can't hurt you,_ she told herself. Still, she couldn't take care of herself. She had told them all the time that she could, yet she'd had to be rescued from a human.

"Hope." She heard him say her name, but she didn't respond. _So much for the girl lesser men fear,_ she thought. "Hope, come here." Something was different about his voice and that, combined with the fact that his hand was on her back, make her look up.

She'd seen Klaus angry, that was his default mood. But she'd never seen him upset, not the way he looked then. She sat up, as if remembering she was lying in the middle of parking lot, crying her eyes out. He was kneeling beside her and he helped her to her feet. _Come here_. She was about to ask 'come where?' when she understood. She buried her face in his chest and his arms went around her protectively.

She never thought she'd hug Klaus, but, knowing that nothing was going to touch her while she was in his arms, she wondered why she hadn't done long ago. She tried to make herself as small as possible against him, hoping he wouldn't let her go, not yet.

"Zoë!" She heard Hayley, but she didn't respond or move. She didn't want to be Zoë, the little girl that she didn't remember being, in Hayley's arms. She wanted to be Hope in Klaus's arms, just for a little longer.

Eventually, she collected herself and turned around, careful not to look at the body at their feet. Rebekah, Elijah and Hayley were all a few feet behind her, looking at her in varying degrees of worry and anxiety.

"I'm going back to New Orleans." She told Hayley, who opened her mouth to protest. Hope cut her off before she even began. "I want you to come with me. But if you don't want to be near the Mikaelsons, then by all means, stay here. But I'm going." She was tired of being pushed around, prodded in the directions of other people. Hayley could go or stay. In that moment, Hope really, truly, did not care.

Hayley gaped at her, but then quickly set her jaw, her decision already made.

"I'll grab some clothes." She hurried back towards the apartment building. Hope had a feeling Hayley expected her to follow, but she didn't care about that either. She sat down on the curb and wrapped her arms around herself. Rebekah sat down next to her.

"Was that your old foster father?" Hope nodded mutely. Rebekah squeezed her shoulders and then pulled her to her feet.

"Let's get home, alright?" Hope nodded. Home sounded good at that moment.


	15. Hunting Grounds

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope sat on one end of a long dinner table set up in the courtyard of the compound, surrounded by the vampires of Marcel's army. She was on edge; being surrounded by the vampires that had tried to kill her wasn't the most comforting thing in the world. She couldn't help but think of the plantation house; Elijah and Rebekah were there. Hayley was at a hotel, closer than ever but still too far away. Klaus stood at one end of the table and got everyone's attention by tapping his glass with his fork.

"Let us begin with a toast to our shared gift: _immortality_. After a thousand years, one might expect life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows do diminish with time. But, as vampires, we feel more deeply than humans could possibly imagine." He gestured towards a group of waiters and waitresses and they all stepped forward. "Insatiable need, exquisite pain..." The servants slit their wrists and filled the cups around the vampires with their blood. _Don't throw up at the dinner table, don't throw up at the dinner table,_ Hope told herself, looking away. "Our victories, and our defeats... To my city, my home again. May the blood never cease to flow..."

"And the party never end!" Marcel finished, somewhat reluctantly. A vampire to the right of Hope raised a glass.

"To New Orleans."

"To New Orleans!"

"New Orleans." Hope raised her can of soda halfheartedly as the others gulped down their blood, still reminding herself that vomiting at the table would be frowned upon.

"I understand that some of you may have questions regarding the recent change in leadership and I invited you here tonight to assure you that you are not defeated. No, my intentions moving forward are to celebrate what we have. What Marcel, in fact, took and built for this true community of vampires." Klaus continued.

"What about her? The witch, or the wolf, or whatever she is."

"I believe you're looking for the word 'teenager'." Hope told him, sipping from her soda.

"Had you'd let me finish, Diego, you would know that there is, of course, one further matter I would like to address." He walked over to other end of the table to stand behind Hope. "As many of you know, this girl is my child. Consequently, I trust you will all pay her the appropriate respect. However, I understand that some of you are concerned by this vicious rumor that I intend to use the blood of this little girl to create hybrids. I assure youI do _not_."

There were some sounds of disbelief around the table; Hope wondered if it was mature to kick Diego under the table. She had her legs pulled up to her chest already so she left them there and shot him a dirty look. Klaus's hand was on her shoulder and she felt him tense at the obvious disbelief at his words.

"It appears I will have to earn your trust. Very well. We'll eliminate the root of your anxiety. You see, how I can I sire any hybrids if there are no more werewolves alive in the Bayou to turn?"

"What? Klaus, no!" Hope jumped up from the table, her chair sliding back and slamming into Klaus's legs. He had to take a few steps back and she whirled, staring at him. He did his best to ignore her as he continued:

"So, eat, drink, and be merry. And, tomorrow, I suggest you have yourselves a little wolf hunt. Go ahead, have fun. Kill them all!"

* * *

 _When in doubt, sneak away from your Original vampire father. That plan never fails,_ Hope thought sarcastically. She jogged down the stairs towards the side door of the compound. She kept close to the wall, the rough concrete scratching the skin not protected by her shorts.

"Going somewhere?" Diego was suddenly in front of her and she froze. Then she recovered and smiled.

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Klaus said not to leave the compound."

"I have to leave." She insisted. He stayed in front of her, staring at her. She rolled her eyes. "I have to get something. Feminine supplies. It's that time, you know. With the crying and the junk food and the anger issues and-."

"You're staying here." He cut her off. _Cry, cry now_! She ordered herself, thinking of the worst memories she had. Somehow, she managed to get her eyes to tear up and then she let loose torrents of sobs. Diego looked ready to bolt.

"I just have to get out and… I need to leave… You're trying to stop me and I'm not the bad guy here!"

Diego flew against the wall and he crumpled into a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Elijah and Hayley stood where he had been.

"Hope."

"Zoë!"

"Hope." Hope corrected Hayley immediately, her sobs disappearing. Both Elijah and Hayley stared at her and looked like they were about to question her tactics, but both thought better of it.

"Zoë, come on." Hayley insisted, backing down the stairs. Hope thought of correcting her again, but decided against it. Hope was what she was used to being called, but she had a feeling it was going to take a while for Hayley to catch on, if she ever did.

"You guys shouldn't be here. Klaus has his guys watching me." Hope pointed out.

"I wouldn't worry about them." Elijah assured her. Rebekah appeared, kicking around two vampires that had been around the corner. "Come, we mustn't linger. We'll get you some place safe." Elijah added.

"By safe, you mean the hunting grounds."

"What?" Hayley asked, glancing around for more vampires. They appeared to be alone, but they wouldn't be for long.

"Klaus ordered a wolf hunt as some twisted kind of peace offering to Marcel's army. They are going to kill every werewolf they kind. We have to help them."

"Out in the Bayou? Do we look like a bloody vampire-rescue-squad?" Rebekah asked.

"You kinda do."

"Please." Hope pleaded, looking around at the three in front of her.

"The werewolves in the Bayou don't deserve this." Hayley agreed.

"Come along." Elijah told her, sighing. Hope took that as agreement and took hold of his offered hand. He swung her up into his arms and sped from the compound with Hayley and Rebekah right behind him.

* * *

The vampires were searching through the werewolf encampments, tearing down tents and kicking around supplies.

"They're obviously here. Fan out, find 'em and bring me some heads!" One of them shouted.

"I'd rather you didn't." Elijah told him. The vampire turned, looking confused, then angry.

Behind them, Hayley kicked down a vampire tearing down a tent and snapped his neck. Hope walked over to stand beside her and flicked her hand. Five vampires around them flew into the wall of the cabin. Rebekah took care of vampires coming up behind Elijah. Completely unconcerned with the carnage around him, Elijah spoke calmly to the vampire that was obviously leading the party.

"I've come to suggest you seek other hunting grounds."

"Suggestion noted." He started to move past Elijah, but Hope waved her hand lazily and he was dragged back along the ground. She let him go in the middle of the camp, looking very pleased with herself. Hayley looked at her and smiled, impressed.

The vampire got up, shaking himself off with a huff. Elijah, Rebekah, Hayley and Hope were already surrounding him, but he tried to look brave still.

"What do you care about wolves?"

"This is my pack you're messing with here." Hayley snarled at him.

"Goodbye." Elijah added.

"Buh-bye." Hope agreed, smiling sweetly at him.

"Nothing here anyway." He mumbled, brushing past Hope and walking away.

"Should we wait for them to wake up and leave or should I start a fire?" Hope asked, rubbing her hands together.

"Hope-." Elijah started, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"She just wants to use her magic, Elijah." Rebekah told him, assuring him that she wasn't quite as murderous as she seemed.

"I can't use it in the quarter, but here, I do what I want!" Hope agreed excitedly.

"I think as well our job here is done." Rebekah said, glancing around.

"Not quite." Hayley whispered. She sped away and disappeared into the woods. Rebekah, Elijah and Hope glanced at each other and then hurried to follow.

"Eve, isn't it?" Hayley questioned the woman she'd found. Hope remembered her and she guessed Elijah did too. Rebekah, however, had never met her.

"One of Hayley and Hope's litter-mates, I presume?"

"You came here to protect us, didn't you?" She asked. She focused on Hope. "We appreciate the concern, but we've been looking out for ourselves for a while now. Nobody finds us unless we wanna be found."

"Well, I found you, so…" Hayley let it go there, off Eve's look.

"Like I said." She agreed. Hayley looked like she was about to protest, but Eve cut her off. "We're surrounded by twenty thousand acres of swamp, the ones born here, who now know it like the backs of our hands, will be fine. But here-." She had a map out now, pointing to a section on it. "-newcomers from out of state. Not of Hayley, Hope's and my kin. But, word's spread about you." Eve looked at Hope.

"So I've heard. Who's trying to kill me now?"

"No one. But they want to learn more about this werewolf princess with the power to protect them."

"Uh, wait-." Hope started to protest, but Eve was already going on.

"Only now, the vampires are out looking for blood, and all these werewolves new at the Bayou might not know where to hide."

"You say that like we're supposed to care." Rebekah told her.

"Believe me, you're gonna want them kept alive."

"And why is that?" Elijah questioned.

"See for yourself."

"Or you could tell us and not make this dramatic." Hope suggested. Eve just smirked at her and disappeared into the trees.

* * *

"I am ruining another pair of fabulous shoes." Rebekah complained as they trudged through the bayou towards the new group of werewolves.

"Can't you just compel yourself some more?" Hope asked.

"That's hardly the point." Ahead of them, Hayley and Elijah were leading the way in uncomfortable silence. Finally, Hayley spoke.

"How long has she been with you guys?" There had been little talking about what had actually been happening in New Orleans since she'd reunited with Hope.

"A few months."

"She's almost seventeen."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"I missed it all." Hayley murmured, as if unaware she'd said it aloud. They came out of the trees and entered the make-shift werewolf encampment.

"All these wolves really travel in style, don't they?" Rebekah asked, glancing around the trailers and tents.

"Better than nothing." Hope felt compelled to point out. Elijah pushed open the door to a nearby trailer.

"Empty." He reported. There was a groan nearby and they all looked around. Hope nudged Elijah's arm and motioned for him to go around the trailer. She followed him closely and they found Diego feeding on a werewolf. Hope held out her arm and he flew off the werewolf, landing hard on the dirt. Hope stood over him.

"Darling we need to stop meeting like this. This is how rumors begin!"

"You can go now." Elijah added as Hayley ran to the injured werewolf. Diego and the other vampires stayed where they were. Elijah sighed. "Perhaps I'm not making myself clear here. This is a threat. In precisely three minutes time, your little hunting party will become the prey. Now, based on your recent failure to subdue my baby brother Niklaus, despite a better than a hundred to one advantage, I recommend you heed my warning." Diego huffed and left with his fellow vampires.

"Dramatic much?" Hope asked, smiling over at him.

"Well, I thought the situation demanded it."

"Who are you people?" The werewolf on the ground asked. Hayley was examining his neck wound, but must've decided it wasn't bad, because she stood up and left him alone. Elijah stared at the ring the werewolf wore on a necklace and looked back up at his face suspiciously.

"I would say the better question is, who are you?"

* * *

"Klaus will murder us." Rebekah said acceptingly as they headed towards the plantation house.

"She's not going back to the compound." Hayley told them.

"I need a shower first, at least." Hope put in diplomatically. They headed into the house and Rebekah stomped towards the living room.

"I stink of the bog!"

"Serves you right, for your pathetic attempt to undermine my rule." Klaus's voice came from the parlor. They all turned towards him.

"Nik, listen-." Rebekah started.

"When I order werewolves to be hunted to extinction, I expect you to stand aside and let the blood flow."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did…. You know what? I don't have a come back." Hope admitted, rubbing her head like Klaus had given her a migraine.

Elijah threw the ring he'd gotten from the werewolf to Klaus, who studied it, forgetting momentarily about his anger at his family.

"Do you recognize it? Perhaps you don't. It _has_ been a thousand years since you last saw it grace the hand of our mother. The ring was in possession of one of the very wolves whose extinction you just ordered. So, naturally, I questioned him. He spoke of a legend. A legend wherein long ago, a chief of theirs had fathered a child to a very powerful witch. Their mythology further states that this child, a son, was later transformed into something this clan had never before seen. Something werewolf _and_ vampire."

"Nik, we're trying to make amends. We found remnants of your family. The bloodline of your true father. And we saved them from being slaughtered at the hands of the vampires _you_ command." Rebekah explained.

"Niklaus, your ambitions have come before this family for far too long. Niklaus, I beseech you please, come home." Elijah added.

" _What home?_ This pathetic substitute? You see, despite all your doubts, all you attempts to thwart me, I've reclaimed our true home. I took back the entire city."

"You have the audacity to boast of your victory when your child remains held prisoner-." Elijah started.

"Evidently not." Klaus pointed out, looking at her.

"-and the mother of your child remains at a hotel across the city from her own daughter."

"It all comes down to them, doesn't it?"

"Stop it, both of you!" Hope cut them off, moving to stand in between them. "You-." She turned to Klaus. "-are just upset that I disobeyed your rules. I'm sorry I am such a disappointment!"

"Hope-."

"Not finished." She told him, holding up a hand to stop him. "Mom, Rebekah and Elijah are coming to stay in the compound with us. Not an option." She added the last part quickly, since he looked ready to protest. Hayley gaped at her, appalled that she was telling Klaus what to do. Rebekah just smirked slightly and Elijah stared at Klaus, wondering what he was going to do. After a moment, Klaus simply stomped out of the room.

"That's as close to an agreement as we're going to get." Hope announced. The front door opened and they heard him pause.

"Hope, come along."

"Zoë-." Hayley started, reaching to catch her arm.

"Hope." She corrected automatically and Hayley set her jaw, still getting used to her daughter's desire to be called that. "And he just going to drive me home." She explained. She brushed past them and hurried after Klaus. She slipped into the passenger seat next to him in his car.

"You smell of the bayou."

"What a surprise. I just had to go save the werewolves there." She fumbled with her seatbelt, but got it on as he pulled out of the driveway. She stayed silent for about half the ride, then couldn't take it anymore. She turned halfway in her seat.

"I used magic. I was totally holding my own with _original vampires_." She informed him smugly.

"Yes, I remember quite well how you threw me around." Still smirking, she turned back around to look out the windshield. After a moment, her smirk faded.

"What with you ordering the death of my pack, I forget to say… uh… Thanks."

"For what?"

"For Marc."

"Who?"

"My old foster father. The one that-." She stopped abruptly; he got the point anyway. She saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel. "Thanks." She repeated, flushing in embarrassment that she was actually telling him that. She remembered that he'd hugged her, held her while she sobbed like a baby. She glanced at him.

"Never try to hurt anyone in my pack or my family again." She told him sternly.

"The werewolves are not-."

"They're my pack." She insisted. He set his jaw and said nothing. With that out of the way, she looked at him again.

"Can I…?" She edged closer to him. He said nothing, so she gingerly rested her head on his shoulder. When he still did nothing, she leaned completely against him and closed her eyes. _Just forget that your family is trying to kill each other,_ she told herself, _focus on the good things._ She had never been a positive person, but she knew how to appreciate what she had.

 _I have my mother_. Hayley would be living with her. She would be living with her _mother_. _I have Elijah._ He was going to protect her, no matter what. _I have Rebekah._ She had an aunt, a friend, that actually cared about her. _I have Klaus, crazy as he is_. She had her father, despite how awkward and angry their entire relationship was.

Klaus had taken out the person that scared her most, the person that had hurt her more than anyone, physically and emotionally. He had killed him and there was no lecture or comment about how she was weak, how she had acted like a child. He'd just defended her.

Thanking people, especially Klaus, had never been easy for her. She'd choked the words out, but she knew that they had come out sounding forced and awkward, like she really didn't mean it. That's why she was leaning against Klaus now. She didn't know how to thank him, besides showing him that he wasn't her enemy. You didn't lean against your enemies.

She'd come to New Orleans searching for her family and she'd found them. All of them. Her parents, her uncle, her aunt. She'd found _all of them_ , more than she expected even. With that thought, she let herself fall asleep against Klaus.


	16. Us Girls Have Got to Stick Together

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, examining herself. The vintage wedding dress wasn't her first choice, but that was what all the girls wore during the particular celebration she was going to take part in. Elijah came to stand in her doorway. She glanced at him in the mirror.

"I don't suspect any of the riff-raff here would dare lay a hand on you, knowing you're under the protection of my family. Still, you shouldn't take any chances."

"So you're grounding me?"

"Well…"

"You're grounding me." She insisted.

"If you want to attend the festivities tonight, I would be more than willing to take you."

"As fun as it sounds to have a babysitter, I think I'll just pass." She told him. Nodding his head towards her, Elijah left. Hope made a face in the mirror. _All dressed up and no where to go…_ She picked up her skirts and headed out into the hallway.

"Did you ever see a tiny stubborn girl that is oddly like you?" Rebekah asked, coming up to her.

"No, but this has got to have a good story behind it."

"Davina, Marcel's little witch. She's missing. Walked right out the front door, apparently. Know anything about it?"

"No, but she has my respect." Hope returned, leaning against the balcony railing. She watched Klaus and Marcel on the balcony across from them, muttering quickly to themselves. Rebekah stood next to her, shaking her head slightly.

"Used by the witches, lied to by Marcel, manipulated by Elijah, threatened by Klaus. Just like a modern-day Casket Girl."

"Are you talking about Davina or yourself?"

"Does it matter? Either way, us girls have got to stick together… Now, where are you off to first?"

"Nowhere without a babysitter, apparently."

"Where's your mother?"

"I don't know; she moved in this morning but then she left again."

"Come on." Rebekah tugged on her arm, leading her away from the balcony.

"Where are we going?"

"To celebrate, naturally."

"You mean find Davina." Hope whispered. Rebekah just smiled and led her out of the compound.

* * *

Hope loved music as much as the next girl, but the street fair was a little loud for her taste. Rebekah weaved through the crowd and Hope had to jog to keep up with her. Eventually, Rebekah stopped with a huff of annoyance, looking back at her niece.

"We need more eyes. If Klaus finds her first…"

"It's going to be ugly?" Hope finished.

"We can't have her falling into the wrong hands."

"She's not a weapon."

"Darling, that's exactly what she is. Call your mother, would you?" Rebekah asked, craning her neck around to try and spot Davina in the crowd. Hope just looked at her. Rebekah glanced back and caught her eye. Huffing, she dug her phone out of her pocket.

"Tomorrow, we're getting you a phone." She promised, out of annoyance more than anything else. Hope ducked away from the crowd, trying to get to a quiet place to make the call. With the phone to one ear, she pressed hre hand against her other to block out the sounds.

" _Rebekah, I don't know why you're calling me but-_." Hayley started in way of greeting.

"Take another guess."

" _Zoë. I'm at the compound right now, but I don't see you_."

"I'm at the Casket Girl celebration; Rebekah and I could use a hand." There was a pause where Hayley considered her admittedly suspicious plea.

" _What's going on? Are you okay?_ "

"I'm fine; we just need to find someone." There was another much longer pause.

" _I would love to help you, but…_ _There's something I need to do._ " Hope frowned; granted, she hadn't known Hayley for long, but her mother had never turned down a chance to help her. " _I'll meet up with you as soon as I can, though_." Hayley added quickly, as if sensing Hope's suspicion and disappointment.

"Yeah, okay." Hope agreed quickly.

" _Bye_." Hayley hung up and Hope stared at the phone. _Well, that was a bust,_ she thought, knowing that finding Davina was going to get even harder as the night went on. She looked up and down the alleyway and caught sight of the church across the street. Rebekah had said that Davina had been held in St. Anne's Church for a while. Hope's suspicions were confirmed when she saw half a dozen black cloaked witches heading towards the church.

She looked towards where Rebekah had been, but her aunt was gone, probably trying to cover more ground and assuming that Hope would have Hayley there to watch out for her. Hope stooped down to tuck the phone into her boot, since her dress didn't exactly come with a lot of pockets.

Then she hurried towards the church, stopping on the curb and reaching out her hand. The witch at the back of the line flew backwards, colliding with the car beside Hope. She didn't get back up, so Hope continued on, hurrying into the church. She barely got a foot into the foyer before she was thrown back onto the street.

She groaned, crawling onto the curb again. She spit out blood from her mouth and waited until she was sure she'd healed before pushing herself to her feet. She turned around and found herself face to face with a girl she had to assume was Davina Claire.

"Who are you?" Davina demanded.

"Hope."

"Mikaelson?"

"I've got a lot of last names, apparently." _Mikaelson, Marshall, Labonair…_ "What just happened?" Hope demanded. Davina glared at her. The next second, Hope was on her knees, choking and gasping for air.

"Your family took Tim!" Saying 'who?' wouldn't have earned her a lot of points, so Hope said nothing. "Your family is going to kill _him_!" Hope swung her leg out and Davina tripped, not expecting her to go for a physical approach for fighting. As Davina went down, Hope met her with a vicious uppercut. Davina fell onto her back on the sidewalk, gasping and looking even angrier than before.

Hope got to her feet, rubbing her throat. Davina started to get up but Hope held out her hand and Davina was pinned against the sidewalk. Davina could only stare up at her.

"You're powerful."

"Thanks. Now who's Tim?"

"He's my… friend." Davina stammered. Hope let her up and Davina didn't try to attack her again, instead choosing to get to her feet and brush off her dress.

"Who took him? And don't say my family. I need something specific."

"Klaus." Davina explained. _What a shocker_ , Hope thought sarcastically.

"If I promise to get him to let Tim go, will you get that murderous look off your face?" Now she knew what Elijah was concerned about her; if she always looked that murderous, she should've been concerned too.

"You can't bargain with him!"

"I can tell him what to do. Sometimes."

"No… no, I have to kill him." Davina tried to brush past her, but Hope caught her arm and spun her back around.

"You are not going to kill him!"

"Watch me." Davina flicked her hand and Hope flew against the steps of the church. Hope got up quickly, but Davina wasn't done with her. Pain erupted in Hope's head, blood pouring from her nose.

"You'd defend them?" Davina snarled. "You would fight for those monsters? Those murderers!" With another flick of her hand, Hope was slammed against the steps of the church. Davina watched to make sure she wasn't getting back up, but blood was pooling underneath her head and she showed no signs of consciousness. Picking up her skirts, Davina turned and hurried away.

* * *

Cami stumbled out of the church, her head throbbing. She nearly tripped over the body on the steps and gasped, falling to her knees. Just as she was reaching over to check for a pulse, Hope stirred and Cami sighed in relief. She really couldn't take seeing more dead bodies.

Hope sat up, looking around and catching sight of Cami. Cami was staring at the blood on her head, looking sick and anxious at the same time.

"We need to get you to the hospital!"

"I'm fine." _Apparently vampire blood doesn't stop me from being knocked out, though_ , she thought to herself. Considering all vampire blood was made out to be, that was disappointing.

"But-."

"I'm fine." Hope repeated, harsher than she meant. Cami fell silent, just looking at her.

"I'm Cami." It was an odd time for introductions, but Cami seemed to have put together that Hope wasn't freaking out over what had happened.

"Hope."

"Klaus's daughter?"

"Is there someone in this city that doesn't know that?"

"He had me writing down his life story." Cami explained with a sigh, settling herself down on the steps with a grimace. Hope wiped blood away from her face with her sleeve, which wasn't looking so white anymore anyway.

"Sounds like him." _Davina's going to kill him_. Hope leapt to her feet and ran off the steps. Cami stared at her in shock and surprise.

"Hope-!"

"I've got to go. You okay?"

"I'm fine. Hope, stop!" Cami's voice was so harsh that Hope stopped in surprise. Cami hurried to catch up with her.

"Who did this to you?"

"What does it matter? I can handle myself."

"You were unconscious."

"I noticed, amazingly enough." Hope snapped at her.

"Whatever is going down, you need to stay away from it."

"You should take your own advice." Hope shot back. Her phone buzzed in her boot. _Rebekah's phone,_ she corrected. She pulled it out of her boot and answered it.

" _Hope, if you are not home in the next-_."

"Whoa, nice to know you're alive too." She cut Klaus off in disgust.

" _Hope-_."

"Yeah, home, got it. Is Davina still alive or is there a mess that needs to be cleaned up?" At her words, Cami leaned closer, trying to hear Klaus's answer.

" _She's alive. What am I more concerned about, however, is the fact that you have been ignoring my calls for the past two hours-_."

"I have?" She pulled the phone away from her ear to check the time. She'd been unconscious for longer than she'd thought. She put the phone back to her ear. "I'm coming home now. Don't kill anyone." She hung up before he could say anything else.

"Davina's-?" Cami started.

"She's okay." Cami let out a breath of relief. She pressed a hand to Hope's back. "We need to get off the streets before someone else decides it's a good night to attack a girl." Hope considered her usual 'I can take care of myself' approach, but decided that Cami wasn't just wanting to protect a poor, innocent little girl, she was wanting someone to do the same for her. So she let Cami walk with her through the streets towards the compound, hoping she didn't look too conspicuous with blood on her face still.

Hope was only vaguely aware of where they were going; she was holding one hand against the side of her hide to hide the blood and she had her eyes closed half of the time, letting Cami steer her through the thinning crowd. Just when she thought the witches were going to leave her alone, Davina comes along with a vengeance plan. Just what she needed, more enemies of her family taking it out on her!

"Klaus." She looked up as Cami spoke. Cami smiled at Klaus as he neared them. "Surprised to see me? After all, you did compel me to leave town."

"You remember."

"Chalk one up for de-compulsion. Hurts like hell, but it's worth it. Made me realize exactly why I want to stick around. Oh, and Klaus? If you hurt Davina or Josh in any way, I'll expose you to the world, and then you can kiss the French Quarter goodbye, _forever_. Have a nice night." She turned and walked away, leaving Hope with Klaus. Klaus stared after her for a moment, then took Hope's arm and pulled her none-too-gently towards the compound.

"Ow! Let me go!" Klaus instantly released her and she shook out her arm. She pulled her other hand from her head and Klaus saw the blood.

"Who did this to you?"

"I'm fine." She avoided the question; no use giving Klaus another reason to kill a sixteen year old girl. Klaus considered her answer, then took her more gently by the arm and they headed for the compound.

* * *

After getting practically mauled by Hayley upon her arrival home, Hope escaped up to one of the living rooms of the compound, where she found Elijah. She'd changed and showered, leaving her blood-free and comfortable. She was still exhausted, however, and collapsed on the nearest sofa.

"You okay?" She questioned.

"I'm better now. Are you alright?"

"Peachy. What's with the artwork?" He was arranging sketches on the coffee table. He glanced down at it and continued his work.

"Davina's sketches. I wonder if they represent some kind of premonition. They seem to suggest something is coming. Something sinister."

"Sounds dramatic. And exhausting."

"I brought you some soda." Hayley came into the room, bearing the gift of caffeine. Hope took it gratefully and made room for Hayley on the sofa.

"So what was with you ditching me? Or, more accurately, never coming at all." Hope asked. Hayley reached over almost absentmindedly to take Hope's hand in hers, which was fine with Hope, but then again she couldn't open her soda one-handed, which she found annoying.

"I was having a talk with Sophie."

"A talk?" Hope raised an eyebrow. Hayley just shook her head.

"It was nothing."

Elijah finished his work and stood up, taking a step back to examine what the sketches made. Hope and Hayley stood up as well, looking over his shoulders at the face that appeared. Hayley frowned but it was hope that spoke.

"What is that?"

"Celeste."

"Witchy dead girlfriend?" Elijah didn't seem to appreciate her nickname for his former lover, but he nodded mutely. Hope stared. "Well, I called it: dramatic."


	17. Earth, Wind, Rain and Fire

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope sat on her bed, laptop in front of her, trying to ignore the sounds of Davina and Marcel fighting in the room right next to hers. Abruptly, the fighting stopped, there was a moment of silence, and then Hope heard Marcel panicking.

"Davina, Davina!" Hope got up and ran into the room, nearly running into Klaus in the process. Davina was choking and spitting out dirt on her bed.

"What the heck?" Hope demanded. Before anyone could think to say anything else, the entire compound shook. Hope started to fall, but Klaus caught her, bracing himself against the doorframe. After a long moment, the shaking stopped and Davina stopped coughing up dirt, starting to sob instead.

Klaus was already gone, but Marcel looked between Davina and Hope. Hope jerked her head towards the hallway.

"I'll stay with her." Marcel left and Hope went to sit on the end of Davina's bed as she lied against her pillows. "I thought your plan was to kill my dad, not destroy the whole city."

"I didn't do it. Not on purpose. I… I don't know what's wrong with me." Hope stared at her for a minute and then turned and lied against the pillows next to Davina.

"You've got a lot of power and a lot of emotions. You're fine."

"No, I'm not." Davina buried her face in her pillows. Hope looked at her.

"Okay, maybe you're not. No need to be a baby about it." She teased. Davina looked at her, unamused, but said nothing. Hope heard Elijah and Hayley talking in the hallway. Motioning for Davina to stay quiet, Hope got up and went to the doorway to listen.

"You're going to see Sophie."

"You don't have to eavesdrop. I keep nothing from you." Elijah said calmly.

"Yeah, well, I don't want to keep anything from you either, and if you're going out to see Sophie, then there's something that you should know… _S_ he called me and asked me for a favor. She promised me that she would help break the curse that Marcel put on my people in exchange for some information. And I didn't think anything of it, but then Davina started doing those pictures of Celeste-."

"Whatever this is, you have to tell me."

"Sophie wanted to find Celeste's remains. Sophie said that you used to know her, so I went through your journals, and I found out where you buried her, and then I told her. I know it was stupid and it was snoopy. And I… I should have just asked you… Please say something. Please."

"She wanted to be left in peace. When a witch's remains are consecrated, that power fuels the rest of their community. Celeste did not want her remains to be found. She made me promise to bury her where she would _not_ be found. You not only violated my privacy, you have broken my promise to her."

"I thought they were just bones, Elijah."

"If you truly believed that, why didn't you ask me where to find her?"

"Hope…" Hope turned back to Davina, tuning out Hayley and Elijah.

"Yeah, you okay?" She went back to Davina's bedside.

"I'm sorry I tried to kill you."

"I have a feeling if you _tried_ to kill me, I would know by being dead." Hope told her. Davina smiled weakly. Hope sat down on the bed next to her again as Hayley stepped into the room, looking guilty. But she said nothing about what Hope had overheard.

"Can I get anything for you?" Davina just shook her head. Hope stood up, took Hayley by the arm and pulled her out of the room.

"You dug up my uncle's ex-girlfriends remains?"

"No! Sophie did."

"Oh, well, in that case-." Hope started sarcastically.

"I didn't know. I thought they were just bones."

"Bones that used to be a person, mom!" Hope struggled to keep her voice down.

"I didn't know!" Hayley repeated. The house shook violent again and they had to grab the railing on the balcony beside them to stay upright. They exchanged looks and then Hope ran into Davina's room again.

"Davina!"

"I… I can't control it…" Maybe it was her being over-confident and smug with her own abilities, but Hope had assumed that she and Davina were on the same level of power. But, as she waited for the shaking to slowly stop, she released just how wrong she was. From what Hope understood, Davina had the power of four witches at once. Hope was suddenly very happy she only had the power of one witch, if this was what happened.

The shaking had stopped, so she sat on Davina's bedside, unsure what to do other than sit there with the other girl. Davina didn't seem mind, or at the very least, she didn't tell Hope to get out. The person who did tell her to get out was Klaus. Thankfully that was more of 'come with me' sort of order. Hope slipped off Davina's bed and followed Klaus to where Sophie Deveraux was.

The explanation was short and sweet. As Hope headed back to Davina's room, she debated how to tell the girl what was happening. She stood in the doorway, watching Davina lie on her bed, still half-way crying and looking sick and exhausted. Delivering death notices, especially to the person dying, was not something Hope considered herself to be good at…

She climbed onto the bed next to Davina and Davina looked up at her, as she knew that Hope had bad news already. Hope looked down at her and offered a hand. Davina took it, giving it a gentle squeeze as if to make sure Hope was actually there with her.

"So… You're cycling through four stages that represent the four elements that bound together the Harvest."

"The earthquake…"

"Earth stage comes first. Then comes wind. Since each stage is going to get more intense than the last, you're going to blow the roof off their place. And not in a good way." Hope tried to joke, realized it was the worst time for a joke, and quickly moved on. "Then water. Raining, flooding… Fire. This town is going to burn to the ground."

"How… how do we stop it?" Davina asked, wide-eyed. Hope leaned against the pillows beside Davina, pausing for a second, knowing what she was about to say was going to be the last thing Davina wanted to hear.

"They want to complete the Harvest." Immediately, Davina panicked.

"No-!"

"The witches say you'll be resurrected. Like their lies make everything okay." Hope snarled. Davina stared at her.

"You don't believe them either."

"Darling, I've been on the witches' bad side since I got here. I know they lie to get what they want." Hope assured her bitterly. Davina sat up, stammering about lies and witches, and the wind picked up. The windows shattered inward and Hope was thrown to the floor with the force. She got up and raced back over to the side of the bed to grab Davina's shoulders.

"Davina, the more upset you get, the faster you're going to die. Calm down!" It might not have been the most comforting thing to say, because the wind only got worse.

"Hope!" Rebekah threw a syringe at her and Hope caught it, staring at it. "Sedative." Rebekah told her impatiently when Hope didn't move. Hope whirled and stuck the needle into Davina's shoulder and got the sedative into her. Slowly, Davina passed out against the bed again. The wind stopped.

"When in doubt, drug a girl. Brilliant." Hope threw the syringe to the floor in disgust. Rebekah let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the doorframe.

"It's nice you're staying here with her."

"What am I supposed to do, let her sit her and panic and die alone?" Hope asked, sitting back down on the bed and running her hand through her ruffled hair. "How do we fix this?" She asked after a minute. Rebekah didn't have an answer for that, which was an answer within itself. Hope squeezed her eyes shut. _Why couldn't they fix this?_ They had saved her from werewolf venom, from witches with their spells and witches with their bows and arrows, even from Marcel's vampires and Tyler Lockwood. But they couldn't save Davina from herself?

When Hope looked up again, Rebekah was gone. She kicked off her shoes and lied down next to Davina again, keeping her eyes closed, as if not seeing their problems would make them go away.

* * *

Hayley made quick work of packing up canned food into boxes. She heard Klaus coming down the stairs but paid him no attention.

"What are you doing?" He asked, walking up behind her.

"I'm going to take these to the families out in the Bayou."

"Well, now I know where Hope gets her…. _everything_ from." Klaus said in annoyance. Hayley's lips turned up into a smug smirk.

"Our daughter inherited my want to help people instead of kill them. What a shame." She said sarcastically.

"I won't have my daughter's mother killed because you were out in this blasted storm. This is not the night to be out there-."

"For _anyone_. But some people don't have a choice." Hayley cut him off. Klaus looked at her, considering it. Then he went and picked up one of the boxes.

"Right. Grab that lot and come with me."

"Where's Zo… Where's Hope?" She questioned as they walked out of the compound, boxes of food in hand.

"With the little witch." He replied absentmindedly.

"It's going to hurt." Hayley said quietly. Klaus looked at her in confusion. "Hope doesn't have any friends. The first girl her age that understands what she's going through, even a little bit, and she's going to die. It's going to hurt."

"Nonsense, she and Davina aren't friends." Hayley just shook her head at him.

"After this is all said and done, let me do the comforting. You'd suck at it."

* * *

Marcel walked quietly into Davina's room. Surprised but undeterred as he saw Hope asleep next to Davina, he stooped down to pull Davina into his arms. The movement of the bed woke Hope and she immediately sat up, looking at Marcel.

"I'm getting her out of here. You gonna help or do we have a problem?"

"Me, a problem? Never." She flashed him a smile, grabbed her shoes and hurried to follow him out of the compound. In the garage, Marcel gently put Davina into the backseat of his car while Hope shoved her shoes back onto her feet. She slipped into the backseat with Davina and Marcel nodded to her, shutting the door behind her. He glanced around to make sure no one else was watching and then slipped into the driver's seat of the car.

Marcel had a few places around the city he could hide out in. He decided quickly on a storage locker by the docks; it was already set up with a cot and some food. Worse case scenario, they could stay there for a few days. He drove quickly, taking the back-roads, or what could be considered back-roads in the city.

Once they were there, he got out of the car and quickly got Davina out of the backseat. Hope had been unusually quiet, but she spoke as she got out of the back and shut the door behind her.

"Do you have a plan to save her?" Marcel didn't answer and Hope knew he didn't know anything more than Rebekah. Clenching her jaw to keep her mouth shut, she followed him into the storage locker. He set Davina on the cot and turned to look at Hope.

"How long has she been out?" Before she answered, she grabbed his arm and looked at his watch.

"Couple hours. I don't know how long it'll take for the sedative to wear off." Marcel nodded and sat down on the edge of the cot. Glancing around, Hope sat down on the top of a small cabinet and leaned against the wall.

It didn't take long for Davina to wake up. The second she did, she looked around and spotted Marcel. The next second, he was thrown against the wall and groaning in pain.

"I'm not gonna hurt you!" He ground out.

"I don't believe you! You want to kill me, just like everyone else."

"I'm the one who put a protection spell on you, Davina. That's why Tim's dead and you're not. And before you throw me again, if I had known anything was gonna happen to your friend, I would have protected him, too." Davina looked at him, shocked.

"You're the one who saved me?"

"Yeah, but now the witch who did the spell is in league with the rest of them, so I had to take you away."

"So you could use me as a weapon?"

"I'm trying to keep you safe. Davina, look at me. I messed up. All this power that you have, it gave me an advantage. It helped me punish the witches, and it let me run the city, and I let that mean too much. All right? But that's over with now. One survivor to another, all I want to do is keep you alive, I swear." Davina was silent for a minute.

"If you guys are done, can I speak?" Hope asked from where she was sitting. They both looked at her. "We'll fix this." She told Davina, forcing a smile onto her face that she hoped was reassuring.

"You won't let them hurt me?" She looked between Marcel and Hope.

"I don't like people touching my stuff. I'm possessive like that." Hope explained, smiling for real that time. Davina let out a weak laugh.

"Nobody's gonna touch you." Marcel promised, pulling Davina into a hug. After a moment, Davina lied back down on the cot, looking pale.

"If I can just wait it out a few more weeks... Help me, please?"

"I will."

"Why a few more weeks?" Hope asked, walking over to stand beside the bed.

"Then the time to complete the harvest is over. They can't do anything." Marcel explained. Hope looked at Davina.

"Well, this would all be much simpler if you were Cinderella and it ended at midnight." Davina laughed again.

"When it's over, I'll do what I should have done: get you out of town." Marcel promised. Davina nodded once, looking thoughtful.

"I had a dream that Tim wasn't dead. He played a song that he wrote for me, and he kissed me, and we were just normal."

"That sounds like a beautiful dream." They all looked at Rebekah standing in the doorway. Marcel jumped up.

"What are you doing here?"

"But it _was_ just a dream." Rebekah told her, ignoring Marcel.

"Get out!" Marcel told her. Hope slipped onto the bed beside Davina and Davina pushed herself up into a sitting position, looking around in surprise and fear.

"This is killing her. Your stubbornness will mean her death."

"I promised her I'd fight for her. I'm not breaking that promise."

"No one is asking you not to fight. You're the only family that this girl has. You owe it to her to fight for her to live." Marcel grabbed Rebekah by the arm and hauled her out of hearing range, but Davina and Hope could still see them arguing outside.

"Can you walk?" Hope whispered. Davina nodded. "Good. Get up." With Davina's arm around her shoulders, Hope helped the other girl up and they hurried out of the storage container. They barely got three feet outside before Marcel and Rebekah sped back over.

"I'll let you guys talk." Rebekah left again and Marcel looked at the two younger girls.

"They have to complete the ceremony."

"No, they _want_ to complete the ceremony. There's a difference." Hope snapped. Davina was leaning pretty heavily against her, but she stayed on her feet, glaring at Marcel. Suddenly, Davina started crying. Hope had to lower Davina to the ground and the three of them all sat on the floor.

"It's okay." She finally choked out.

"No, it's not okay! Can you kill witches with a stake? I'll get a stake and shove it up Sophie's-."

"Being normal was just a dream. If this is all I have, I've had a lot. I had Monique, and I had Tim, and I had someone who fought for me from the moment you met me and I have someone who'd kill to protect me when I tried to kill her." Davina sobbed.

"You knocked me out, that's not the same as trying to kill me." Hope sniffed.

"Aw, Davina…" Marcel knew what was coming and he looked near tears himself.

"Most people don't get that even if they live to be a hundred. Marcel, I'm ready."

"Davina-." Hope started.

"I'm going to die either way. This way, I don't take anyone down with me."

"No, you don't get to give up-."

"Hope." Marcel cut her off. Hope looked between them and fell silent.

"Help me?" Davina asked softly. Marcel nodded and got her to her feet, easily swinging her up into his arms. He looked at Hope.

"You gonna help or are you going to be a problem?" It was the same question he'd asked before, only this time, Hope wanted to answer the opposite of what she'd said before. But instead, she said nothing as she followed him and Davina away from the docks.

* * *

Hope slipped under the umbrella that Hayley and Elijah were holding, drenched from head to toe. Hayley reached around Elijah to give her arm a comforting squeeze. Hope paid her no attention as she glanced around the cemetery she'd spent way too much time in.

Davina stood in front of Sophie, with Marcel right behind her. Sophie held the ceremonial knife over the flames for a minute before she turned to Davina.

"Do you believe in the harvest?" Davina nodded nervously.

"I believe."

Sophie slit Davina's throat. Davina grabbed at her bleeding throat instinctively, falling back into Marcel's arms. Marcel gently laid her body on the ground. Hope looked away, looking for, something, _anything_ to focus on instead. Elijah's jacket was good enough, she decided.

"After the Harvest comes the Reaping. Their sacrifices made and accepted. We call upon our Elders to resurrect the chosen ones." Hope looked up again, expecting something to happen. Everyone else looked around as well, but nothing was happening. Sophie swallowed and began again: "We call upon our Elders to resurrect the chosen ones..." Sophie looked flustered and near tears. "Resurrect your chosen ones... Please? I beg..." Sophie fell to her knees and sobbed. "No!"

Sophie stayed on her knees, sobbing. Hayley put a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Rebekah wiped away tears, swallowing hard. Marcel shot Klaus a look of hatred and sped off. Hope let her dripping hair fall into her eyes, hoping it would cover her own tears. Hayley reached for her hand but Hope moved away. She didn't want to be touched or coddled or told everything would be alright. She could see with her own eyes that those words would be far from the truth.

* * *

Hope sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. It was late at night, so late it was to be considered early morning. Finally, she got up, her bare feet slapping against the cold floor as she navigated her way to her mother's bedroom. Hayley sat up as Hope eased the door open, trying to be quiet.

"Can't sleep?" Hayley asked softly. Hope nodded. Hayley waved her over. Hope climbed into bed next to her.

"Thanks."

"Of course, sweetie. You'll be okay." Hayley promised. She closed her eyes again, apparently intent on going back to sleep. Hope lied next to her for almost an hour. She could tell exactly when Hayley's body relaxed completely and she was asleep, but Hope found herself still wide awake.

Having a mother to comfort her… That had been her dream for so long. Now, with Hayley right beside her, she hardly felt any better than before. After a few more moments, she slipped out of the bed. Hayley stirred, reaching over where she had been, but didn't wake up. Hope hurried from the room to let her mother sleep, instead walking through the compound, trying hard not to cry.

When she knew it wasn't going to work, that she was going to cry, she headed into Klaus's study. He was still awake, which was what she'd been hoping for. She needed someone to tell her to suck it up, since 'you'll be okay' obviously wasn't working for her. Klaus glanced up as she walked in and collapsed on the couch.

"Tell me to stop crying." She told him, tears spilling down her face. She put her hands over her face so she couldn't see Klaus, but she heard his sigh loud and clear.

"You barely knew the girl." He felt obligated to point out.

"She was like me. She was manipulated and lied to be the witches, they tried to kill her and she had to hide out somewhere dust and isolated. Then, when things were started to look up, they killed her. She was like me." Hope insisted, her face still buried in her hands.

"Your mother-."

"I don't want comfort; I want you to tell me to suck it up." With another sigh, Klaus sat down on the edge of coffee table in front of her, their knees touching.

"Suck it up. Happy now, love?"

"No."

"Come here." She leaned forward until she was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry for a few minutes. Finally, she pulled away, wiping at her eyes.

"They're not going to kill you." He promised, which told her that her fear of the witches killing her was the thing that he focused on the most.

"No offense to you and your skills regarding war, but I don't expect to survive long in this place." She curled up on the couch, burying her face in the pillow. Klaus nudged her legs. She obediently moved them and he sat where her legs had been. She put her legs back up on his lap.

"Go to sleep." It wasn't an order, but it wasn't really a suggestion either. Hope was exhausted, physically and emotionally, so she nodded and closed her eyes.


	18. Messages from the Grave

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

"There you are." Elijah stood in the doorway of Davina's room, watching Hope. Hope turned around.

"Here I am." She agreed halfheartedly. Elijah gestured to the papers she was looking through.

"Davina's drawings."

"Yeah. Morbid, I know. I was just thinking... we never figured out why she drew those pictures of Celeste. Anyway, I'm, just killing time. I woke up this morning to Klaus telling me I'm on vampire-lockdown."

"Whoever did this, we will deal with them. It won't be long."

"What exactly did happen? Some witch killed two vampires? Sounds sketchy, even for the witches."

"It is… _sketchy_." Elijah agreed hesitantly, trying out the word.

"Fine, fine." She put down Davina's drawings carefully. "I'll stay here like a good little girl." She agreed. She started to move past him, but Elijah caught her arm.

"Do try to get some sleep." The four hours on the couch hadn't done much for her appearance, apparently, if he knew she needed sleep.

"What else is there to do? It's not you guys invest in play-stations or even TV's… That's one gift-less birthday I'm not getting back." What with their trip to Boston and Davina, her birthday had come and gone without celebration. To be fair, she'd forgotten about it until recently and was now very proud of herself for being seventeen. _One more year and they can't treat me like a kid anymore._ At least, that's how she was assuming it was going to work. Once you hit eighteen, you were automatically an adult that was to be trusted and respected, right? Of course, this was all assuming she survived long enough to hit eighteen, which she knew was doubtful.

Elijah saw she was deep in thought, so he touched her shoulder gently to bring her back. She jerked and looked back at him.

"I'm fine." She said, as if that was her knee-jerk reaction. She tugged her hair over her shoulder nervously and brushed past him, heading down the hallway. Elijah knew that wasn't the direction of her bedroom, but he left her be; he had more pressing matters to deal with.

* * *

 _Hope walked through the empty compound, looking around for any sign of life. The entire compound was empty, dusty and very creepy looking. She heard someone walking behind her and whirled around. There was no one there. She turned back around and had to stifle a shriek._

 _A tall, brown haired man stood behind her, looking at her with some amusement. Hope steadied herself and tried made herself look taller, not a hard feat sine she was tall for a girl anyway. The lighting was all weird, but she could see him well enough._

 _"Who are you?" She asked._

 _"One word: Rebekah." He spoke with an accent very similar to Rebekah and Klaus's._

 _"That's a name, not a word. And she's my aunt. What about her?" Hope demanded, crossing her arms. The man sighed, like she'd annoyed him. If she had, it was apparently very easy to do._

 _"She's in danger, darling. So why don't you use your witch powers to go and help her, eh?"_

 _"Who are you?" She repeated. Then she stopped, shaking her head. "I'm insane. This is a dream and in my dream, I'm dreaming about going insane. You're not really here." She decided. The man rolled his eyes._

 _"Darling, if I'm not real, then how do I know that currently you're asleep beside your mother. Who is reading Call of the Wild, ironic much?_ " 

_"Because I saw her doing that and my subconscious mind knows it and is using it against me. You're not real. I'm dreaming."_

 _"Well, yes, you are. But that doesn't mean it's not real." Hope stared at him._

 _"Yep. Someone here is crazy." The man rolled his eyes again and grabbed her by the shoulders. The weirdest thing was, she didn't feel it. She looked down at his hands on her shoulders, touching her… yet felt nothing. She looked back up at him, wide-eyed. If he noticed her confusion and mild panic, he didn't show it._

 _"Focus. Rebekah."_

 _"Rebekah." She repeated._

 _"Good girl." He let her shoulders go._

* * *

Hope woke up gasping, sitting up immediately. From the other side of the bed, Hayley looked from her book to stare at her, alarmed.

"Hope, are you okay? It was just a dream."

"No… No it wasn't…" She slipped off the bed and ran out into the hallway. "Elijah!" She kept moving, darting down hallways trying to find him. When she reached the top of the stairs leading down into the courtyard, she almost ran into him. He caught her arms, a touch which could feel to her immense relief, to stop and steady her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned. She realized she had probably sounded more than a little panicked when she'd yelled for him, so she took a breath and calmed down.

"Where's Rebekah?"

"I don't know. She's not answering her calls."

"Something happened to her. I don't know what, but something happened." Hope insisted. By that time, Hayley had caught up to them, looking between them in confusion. Elijah looked around the courtyard and then sped over to one particular vampire sitting at a table.

"What's going on?" Hayley demanded, catching Hope's arm.

"I'm either really insane or a really powerful witch with a possibly dead friend out there. I'll get back to on that." Hope promised, jogging down the stairs after Elijah.

"My sister is rather fond of you. Strange, she's not typically drawn to unremarkable men. Would you care to explain your sudden magnetism?" Elijah was asking the vampire.

"I don't know what you're-." Elijah cut him off by grabbing him by the throat and pushing him against the nearest wall.

"Elijah!" Hayley cried, shocked by this sudden outburst. Hope, however, watched in curiosity.

"You can either tell me what you know, or I can distribute tiny pieces of you throughout the Quarter."

"She asked me to keep an eye out on witch stuff. I found something, and when I showed her, we were jumped by some guy. He desiccated her with his touch."

"Like a coward, you left her!"

"What was I supposed to do, fight some warlock that took out an Original?"

"Where was this, exactly?"

"The docks, warehouse 57. I was just doing what she asked. You _cannot_ tell Klaus about this." Elijah snapped his next and allowed the body to drop to the floor.

"I shall take that into consideration."

"I'm coming with you." Hope said immediately.

"No. Stay here. The compound is safe."

"From what? Vampires can walk in without invitation and whatever witch we're dealing with can take out an original with one touch. Safety in numbers. Rebekah's in trouble. I'm going." Hope told him. Elijah considered this, glancing at Hayley.

"I'm coming too." He considered that for a moment and then sighed.

"Do not leave my sight. Understand?" Hope nodded quickly and the three of them left for the docks.

* * *

"Rebekah!" Elijah ran towards Rebekah's desiccated body, but couldn't cross the barrier made of salt. Hayley and Hope caught up to him.

"What happened?" Hayley asked.

"Some kind of boundary spell. Someone is channeling her. Typically, it's a lethal process, but because she's an Original, she can't die. Instead, she's an endless source of power."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Hope demanded. Elijah raised his phone to his ear; he had been talking to Sophie beforehand, debating how to handle the situation.

"You have to get her out of here."

" _Elijah, you have to get her out of there to break the link of power!_ " Sophie protested over the phone.

"You're not listening. We cannot enter the circle. There's some kind of confinement spell... If I can't remove her, we can't break the link."

" _It's a convoluted spell. It's like a witch's recipe. You can spoil the balance by adding a more potent ingredient. A mystical binding agent. I don't know, volcanic ash, rock salt... anything up to and including eye of newt._ "

"What about the blood of a witch?"

" _Yes_."

"I need a favor." Elijah turned to Hope.

"Figured." She pulled a switchblade out of her boots and cut into her hand.

"You carry a switchblade in your boot?" Hayley questioned.

"Always have a weapon on you in this town…" She let her blood drip onto the circle of salt. It fizzled and deteriorated. Elijah hurried across the boundary, picked Rebekah up and took her out of the circle. Hayley grabbed Hope and she and Elijah but sped off towards the compound again.

* * *

Rebekah stepped into Hope's room, looking around. It was plain, undecorated and looked exactly the same as when the last occupant had been there. Hope was sitting at the desk, laptop in front of her, but she turned when she heard Rebekah approaching and smiled.

"It's nice to see you're not grey anymore." Hope greeted her.

"It's nice to be alive, yes." Rebekah agreed, casting one last glance around the room before sitting down at the end of the bed. "Just when we think our problems with the witches are resolved."

"We'll always have problems with _someone_." Hope said, turning back to her computer screen. She sounded oddly acceptant of that fact, which meant she was too much of a Mikaelson for her own good. Rebekah stood up again and went look over her shoulder at the websites she was scrolling through.

"'Dreams of Ghosts and Monsters', 'Haunting and ghosts in dream interpretation'… What's all this?"

"Had a weird dream. Might be crazy, but be crazy powerful, but there's something crazy going on." Hope explained, her eyes still on the screen.

"Or both." Rebekah told her helpfully. Hope smiled sarcastically.

"Thanks."

"You know," Rebekah fell back onto the bed with a sigh, "this used to be my brother Kol's room." At that, Hope turned around, interested.

"I know you guys had other brothers, but no one talks about them."

"Yes, well, bad memories and all that. Finn was the eldest. He lived in a box for nine-hundred years and then tried to help our mother murder all of us, even offering himself up as a sacrificial lamb if it helped her kill us quicker. May he rest in peace, but no one was too heartbroken over his demise. Kol was older than me, but he was still the troublesome baby brother to Elijah and Nik. He was daggered quite often, like me."

"I bet you guys got along great."

"Not really. In fact, I might have been the reason he was daggered a few times." Rebekah admitted. She stood up once more and went over to the desk again. "Have you been through these drawers?"

"Nope. I just sleep here. Most of the time, at least." Hope admitted. She hadn't wanted to do much snooping in the compound; there was too big of a chance of finding dead bodies for her taste. Rebekah opened one of the drawers, moved around old papers, and found a picture frame. She handed it over to Hope and Hope dusted it off with her sleeve before taking a good look at it. It was the Original family, plus Marcel, evidently. They were all dressed to the nines, standing on the staircase that led down into the courtyard.

"That's Kol, there." Rebekah pointed at the man towards the top of the stairs. Hope stared at him.

Minds could not create human faces. Any face you saw in dreams you had to have seen before, even if you didn't remember it. But the human mind could not create faces. The only way she had seen that face before was if her warning about Rebekah was not a dream at all. She had actually seen Kol Mikaelson. And he'd warned her, helped her.

"How did Kol die?"

"White Oak stake to the heart. He was trying to kill someone and they bested him." Rebekah explained.

"How long ago?"

"Shortly before we came to New Orleans, actually. The last time I saw him was when the ghosts got out from the Other Side. That bugger was as troublesome as ever." Rebekah shook her head. "I have something to take care. You can keep that. This is your room now anyhow." Rebekah waved a hand dismissively around the room and then left.

Hope set the picture on the desk where she could see it and then leaned back against the chair to stare at it.

* * *

At some point, Hope assumed she'd get so used to see corpses that she wouldn't scream on instinct. But it hadn't happened yet and the next morning, she'd brought Hayley and Elijah running into the courtyard. Elijah called Klaus to tell him about Papa Tunde's body while Hayley tried to steer Hope out of the room. She shook her mother off.

"I've seen bodies before." She protested. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"I bet you have." She muttered under the breath. They turned back around to watch Elijah examine the body in front of him. Klaus and Marcel sped into the compound, looking confused but somewhat relieved. Klaus went over to Hope immediately.

"What happened?"

"I didn't kill him, if that's what you're asking."

"Did you see who did?"

"No. I came down for some breakfast and he was there. Lost my appetite too." She complained, folding her arms across her chest. Klaus looked at her a moment longer and turned to look at Elijah again.

"Can I get you anything, brother? A magnifying glass? A pipe, perhaps?" He asked sarcastically.

"You have a theory you'd like to share with us, Niklaus?" Elijah asked impatiently.

"Back in the day, the witches wanted to send a threat, they'd just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep." Marcel put in.

"That's big chicken." Hope felt obligated to point out.

"Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease, almost got the two of us as well. If he was supposed to be the prize fighter, why leave him for dead in our front yard?" Klaus demanded.

"Well, don't you look cheery. Listen to this. A girl literally exploded from a grave today as Sabine was giving a tour of the city of the dead. It was Monique Devereaux." Rebekah announced as she walked in, completely ignoring the body in front of them.

"What?"

"The tourists thought it was part of the show, but the witches are celebrating like it's some kind of bloody miracle."

"Maybe it is. They think that all hope is lost, but now suddenly a Harvest girl is resurrected. This is how were gonna get Davina back: kill the witch who took her place."

"Celeste." Hope said suddenly and everyone looked at her. "Davina was trying to tell us, she was drawing pictures of Celeste. She was warning us that a great evil is coming. No offense, Elijah, but your lover might just be that great evil." Klaus heaved a sigh.

"First, Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores, now your murdered lover is back. This isn't witches attacking vampires. They're declaring war on us."


	19. War

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

"Someone's declaring war on us. Nothing new. Why do we have to go back to the plantation house?" Hope asked as Rebekah helped her backed an overnight bag.

"Elijah and Nik are insisting. Well, Elijah's insisting and he won. If Nik had his way, you would never leave this room. Here." Rebekah handed her a crumpled up t-shirt.

"How long are we staying?"

"I have no idea." Rebekah admitted. Hayley hurried into the room, a bag on her shoulder.

"Are we going?"

"Since when are you coming with? You're a hybrid almost two decades old. You can take care of yourself." Rebekah pointed out. Hayley sighed.

"Tonight's a full moon, Rebekah."

"So what? You're a hybrid. You don't turn."

"Yes, but I wanted to invite a few people over."

"Of course." Rebekah agreed, nodding knowingly. "Every red-blooded American werewolf will be a bundle of fur and sharp teeth tonight whilst your cursed Crescent Clan will be-."

"Human." Hope finished. She hadn't realized the full moon was so close. Hayley nodded in agreement.

"But only for a few hours, and won't be again until the next full moon, so... I asked Josh to get a message out to Eve in the Bayou."

"Josh isn't dead yet? Well good on him. I love a nice survival story." Rebekah smiled. She turned back to Hope.

"Fine. We'll have a nice little party. Get in the car."

* * *

The second Rebekah pulled up to the plantation house, they could spot a man wheeling a dolly out of the house. Rebekah stared.

"Who is that?" Hayley quickly got out of the car to call out to the man.

"Kegs out back, alright?"

"Yup." Hayley cleared her throat and turned back to Rebekah.

"Right. It appears you weren't gonna wait for me to grant you permission to throw a kegger." Rebekah was slightly amused as she got out of the car. Hope climbed out of the backseat with her backpack on her shoulder.

"Listen, you want us to stay here? We'll do that, but-."

"Speak for yourself." Hope muttered.

"But tonight's the _one night_ a month that Hope and I can meet our family. Now, you could rat me out and send me to my room, or you could help me to throw a party."

* * *

"I don't see how this is a party." Hope complained as Hayley shoved an armful of clothes into her arms.

"You're underage. We can't have a bunch of men running around naked." Hayley explained. Hope looked at her.

"I'm underage? That's the _only_ reason?" Shaking her head at her amused looking mother, Hope went out to the clothesline in the back and started hanging up the clothes. She had no idea where Hayley had gotten all the clothes, but they varied enough that she was sure there would be something for everyone.

From the bushes, a wolf came out halfway and stared at her. Hope looked back, brushing aside some of the clothes that were blocking her view. It was the same wolf that had been protecting her during her trips to the bayou. She smiled at the wolf.

"Hey, you. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon." The sun had set, so it was only a matter of time. She turned and walked back onto the porch, propping the door open with a rock so that they knew they could walk right in. Hayley wasn't there anymore, so she wandered around the house, looking for either of the women.

Rebekah was just coming down the stairs, talking on her phone.

"Marcel, if you don't call me back with an update, I will kill you myself." She put the phone back into her pocket and caught sight of Hope.

"If you want to go, go." Hope offered.

"And leave my _helpless_ niece, not a chance." They both smiled at the sarcastic use of the word 'helpless'. "Besides, Elijah would murder me." Rebekah explained. She brushed past Hope and went into the kitchen. There was a minute of silence and then Rebekah called out to Hope again:

"Hope, Hayley… Party's here."

* * *

The party was held mostly in the backyard, which Hope and Hayley had spent more time than they cared to admit decorating with candles and strings of lights. Some werewolves were playing instruments while others danced to the music. The first werewolf that had arrived, a blonde named Oliver, was trying to get Rebekah to dance with him. Hope wondered how long it was going to be before she kicked him in the place where the sun didn't shine. Hayley was dancing just fine, laughing and talking with the rest of the Crescent wolves.

Hope went back inside, picking up empty cups and beer bottles and throwing them into a trash bag she was carrying. Some part of her was glad to be back in the house; she preferred its style and layout as opposed to the intimidating Compound. She didn't intend for it to get ruined because of a party. A party she wasn't exactly having fun with, either. She'd never been good with parties, to be fair. So she played maid while everyone else partied.

"I seriously doubt you invited us here to wait on us." She dropped the bottle she'd picked up and whirled, taking an instinctive step back. The glass bit into her bare foot, made her reconsider her decision to ditch her shoes and she let out a hiss of pain, jumping back even further.

"Sorry. I'm Jackson. It's nice to see you again."

"You're the wolf that's been watching me." Hope guessed. She sat on the back of the couch, pulling her foot up. It wasn't going to heal until she got the glass out of the wounds. It was more painful than she was going to admit to the shaggy haired werewolf in front of her.

"I gotta keep my eye on you. You seem to attract trouble. Here." He walked over to her, took her foot in his hand and quickly got the glass out of the wounds. It healed instantly and, if he was surprised he didn't show it. Instead, he stooped down and started picking up the shattered remains of the bottle to throw it in the trash bag. Hope hopped down from the back of the couch.

"Oh, you don't have to do-."

"It's fine. I guess I startled you."

"I was expecting the party to stay outside with the attractive women." She explained. She waited, staring at Jackson. After a minute, he seemed to get it.

"Oh! Yeah, you're attractive too."

"Forced, doesn't count." She told him, shaking her head. Jackson chuckled.

"I tried."

"Not really." She told him, gathering up a few more of the red plastic cups. _Huh, people actually have red plastic cups at parties… I thought that was a myth_ , she thought to herself, throwing them into the bag. After that was done she went to join Jackson where he'd sat on the bench of piano. He was softly playing and she wondered how long ago it had been since he'd had the chance to play.

"How did you always find me when I was out in the bayou?" She asked.

"Members of a pack can find each other. I guess you don't know any of this because there was never anyone around to teach you, but the Crescents are just any pack of wolves. The bloodline goes back to the very beginning. Two families, yours and mine. I guess that makes us kind of a royalty."

"Where's my crown and throne?" She asked teasingly.

"New Orleans used to be our town, and we lost it all because of some in-fighting. The vampires came after us, and if our families were united, we could've taken them. But, uh… that didn't happen. Our pack made a huge misstep with the vampires when we refused to back down, and Marcel had us cursed by a witch." Jackson explained.

"How long ago was that?"

"Right before you were born, probably. You are the last one of your bloodline, Hope. You and your mother. These people will follow you. You can help them, you and what you represent."

"What is that exactly? Sass, class and denim?"

"A time when things were different. When our people fought back. And after everything you went through to find us... You're the one who's gonna break our curse."

"I'm a witch, sure, but I have no idea how to do that." Jackson looked at her, confused.

"Your witch friend, she told Eve that she was coming here tonight to set us free."

"What witch friend?" Before Jackson could answer, Hayley came into the room.

"There you are! Making friends, finally."

"Mom, I need your phone." Hope scrambled off the bench and sprinted over to Hayley, practically mauling her to get the phone out of her jacket phone.

"Jeez, calm down. Here. What's going on?" Hayley asked as Hope dialed a number.

"It's a trap. I didn't make a deal with any witch." She explained, more to Jackson than to Hayley.

"What?"

" _Hayley-_."

"Hope." She corrected Elijah immediately. She really needed her own phone. "I'm at the plantation house. It was a trap, witches are after me. Again." Thankfully, Elijah was more than used to her frantic, vague pleas for help.

" _Hope, you have to find Rebekah. You and your mother stay with her until I get there._ " Hope motioned for Jackson and Hayley to follow her as she rushed towards the door. Flames burst seemingly out of no where around the perimeter of the house. Trying to get out the door was like hitting an invisible brick wall.

"Elijah, they spelled the house. They're trapping us inside." She knew that Elijah would kill her for it later, if she survived at all, but she hung up on him.

"We have to get out of here." Hayley gasped as they backed out into the living room again. Jackson threw the piano stool at the window, but the stool shattered and the window was left intact. Hope started coughing from the spoke; the fire was torching the curtains and the carpet. Hayley grabbed a tablecloth from an end table, poured water on it from a vase of dying flowers and handed it to Hope.

"Here, breathe through this." The flames were coming closer, as if they had a predatory mind of their own. Hope held out her hand and the flames roared up higher, but didn't come any closer. Jackson and Hayley looked at her.

"How long can you hold it off?"

"I don't know." She admitted, coughing even though she was trying to breathe through the wet tablecloth. The window shattered and they all backed up, Hope's concentration breaking. Elijah grabbed Hope and sped out of the house. Hayley grabbed Jackson and did the same, letting him go on the lawn. Elijah set Hope down on her feet, waiting until her coughing fit was over before asking questions.

"Where's Rebekah?"

"I don't know."

"She went off with one of the wolves." Hayley supplied, leaning worriedly over Jackson. Elijah sped off. Hope went over to Hayley and Jackson.

"Have a party, you said. It'll be fun, you said." She couldn't help but guilt-trip Hayley. Jackson was on his feet, still coughing a little but recovering. He glanced up at the sky.

"I have to go. The moon." He started to walk off, but Hope caught his arm.

"Wait, Jackson. Thanks. For protecting me."

"You could use someone looking out for you… But I think you've got a couple." Jackson smiled at Hope, nodded to Hayley and then headed off into the trees. Hope stared after him, but Hayley quickly hustled her towards the car.

"We have to get back to the compound… I don't have Rebekah's keys." She realized.

"We'll wait for Elijah and Rebekah to get back-." Hope started, but stopped at Hayley's look. "Their fine." Hope whispered, trying to sound sure of herself and failing.

"Plan B." Hayley told her, slipping into the front seat.

"What's plan B?" The car roared to life. "Did you hotwire my aunt's car?"

"Get in." Hayley reached over to open the passenger side door. Hope scrambled inside and Hayley drove them towards the compound.

* * *

Marcel's vampire army had gathered in the courtyard by the time Hayley and Hope had gotten back. They paused at the back of the crowd, listening.

"We've looked everywhere for him. Tore apart the Cauldron, the City of the Dead. Wherever they got him, he ain't in the French Quarter."

"Who?" Hope demanded, loud enough to be heard from the back. Marcel looked at her.

"Klaus." As if on queue, Elijah stormed into the compound.

"Marcel! Where is my brother?"

"I got guys out looking for him right now." Marcel tried to assure him. Elijah threw some of the vampires against the walls, knocking them out or killing them. Hayley threw up an arm to shield Hope, staring at him in shock.

"Elijah!"

"Klaus threw one of his classic temper tantrums, snapped my neck, tried to take on a coven of witches by himself. He got dropped. I don't know where he is or how to find him." Marcel explained, frustrated.

"They also have Rebekah. _Every_ one of you will help me to find them. I'm gonna kill them all."


	20. Fight

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope was arguably the most powerful witch in New Orleans. She could do one simple locator spell, right? Wrong. After yet another failed attempt, she couldn't help herself. She kicked the table she was standing in front of and it toppled over, spilling the contents onto the floor. All around her, nearly anything that could catch fire, did catch fire.

"Whoa, hey, take a break!" Hayley told her from across the room, speeding over to put her hands on Hope's shoulders from behind. The fires went out, leaving the room slightly singed and smelling of smoke, but not seriously damaged. Hope turned around to face her mother.

"I can't find them."

"It's not all on you." Hayley pointed out. Hope closed her eyes, sucking in deep breathes that were too sharp to be relaxing. Then she turned and picked up the table, starting to put all the things back on it.

"Hayley!" Elijah yelled from somewhere in the compound. Hayley turned towards the voice, annoyed that he was summoning her when her daughter obviously shouldn't be left alone. Hope jumped up and ran towards the voice, though, so Hayley slowly followed her.

"Elijah! You're back. Did you find any-?" Hope stopped when she saw that Elijah was birth shirtless and covered in tattoos. It took her less than a second to turn completely around and groan. "Warn me, next time, so that we can avoid this!" Seeing her uncle shirtless was not exactly on her to-do list. She was sure in other peoples' eyes; he was a very attractive man. She would not be testifying on that particular case.

"That's why I called for your mother."

"I'm here. What-?" Hayley stopped dead and then stared. "What happened?" She hurried over to him and started examining all the tattooed names. Hope slowly turned around, still looking a bit disturbed.

"It's not like you're looking a shirtless girl." Hayley told her, amused. Marcel came into the room and handed her a notebook and pen.

"I need you to make a list of these names." Elijah directed her words at Hayley, who nodded absentmindedly, reaching out ot take the notebook and pen from Hope. Hope ventured a bit closer, seeing a familiar name.

"Sabine? Why do you have her name tattooed on you?"

"I believe these are the names of the women Celeste inhabited for the past two centuries." He explained.

"It's called a Devinette. It's old school. Kind of a riddle. Witches use them to teach their kids. Solve it, and it disappears." Marcel told them.

"What, are crossword puzzles too normal for them?" Hope questioned.

"Celeste forced me to make a choice between you and your mother and my siblings, and now she means to mock that choice, taunting me with a childish game. The longer the game, the more they suffer. To find Klaus and Rebekah, we need to solve this riddle. The solution lies somewhere in these names." Elijah explained. Hope swallowed hard. _Some witch… Couldn't even get out of a burning house without calling your uncle,_ she scolded herself.

"The name next to Sabine... Annie La Fleur, she's the witch that was shunned from her coven just over a year ago. Never knew why, but I can find out." Marcel offered. Elijah nodded to him and Marcel hurried from the room.

"I'm going to try another locator spell." Hope turned to go, but Hayley stopped her.

"They obviously have wherever they are shielded from any locator spell. Don't exhaust yourself."

"I just want to try it one more time." Hope told her, running a hand through her hair and hurrying from the room. Hayley opened her mouth to call after her, but this time, Elijah stopped her.

"Let her. At the very least, it will keep her focused on something inside the Compound, where she is safe."

* * *

"She killed herself?" Hayley asked Elijah over the phone. The names were clues, clues which Elijah and Marcel were following. Hayley stayed in the compound, keeping her eye on Hope. Rather than burning down Klaus's study, Hope had moved to her room to attempt some more locator spells. Hayley stood in the doorway, the phone on speaker so that Hope could listen in.

" _Yes, drowned herself in the Mississippi, to be precise. Celeste was clearly tired of the body and ready to take Sabine's._ "

"How do you know that?"

" _Because she leaped to her death from the very location Celeste and I had our first kiss._ "

"Oh, so she's not just powerful and crazy, she's poetic in a creepy-vendetta sort of way. Just what we needed." Hope grumbled from her bed. Hayley looked at her again and frowned.

"Do it on the floor. I don't want you burning your bed." Mumbling something under her breath, Hope moved her map and various objects to the floor instead.

" _All these names, these lives, stolen that Celeste might take her revenge. I suppose we have no choice but to see where they take us. Hayley, I have to go. I'll call you back._ "

"Elijah, wait!" Hope scrambled to her feet and ran over to get closer to the phone.

" _What is it?_ " With that, Hope lost some of her nerve, but stumbled through her next words anyway:

"I'm really sorry. If I known that the house fire was to make you choose between-."

" _You were going to die in that fire, Hope. You and your mother. There was no choice_." Hope said nothing, just turned and went silently back into her bedroom. Hayley turned and walked onto the balcony, taking the phone off speaker.

"Elijah… Can you ask Marcel if he knows anything about a name on that list? Brynne Devereaux. Sophie said that it was her family's bloodline that put the curse on the Crescent wolves, but Celeste said that she was the only one that could break it. If Brynne Devereaux was actually Celeste when she cast the spell, then maybe Celeste can still break it."

" _I'll see what he knows._ "

"Thank you." They hung up on each other. Hayley turned the phone around in her hand, thinking about the possibility that her pack could be free of the curse. Then she stuck her phone back into her pocket and went back to Hope's room. "Hope, you should really take a-." She stopped. Hope wasn't in the room. Hayley looked up and down the hallway, trying to spot her. There was no way she had gotten into the courtyard without Hayley noticing, so Hayley went further into her bedroom, poking her head into the closet, as if she was going to be hiding in there. Then she looked towards the open window, frowning. _She wouldn't…_ She would, Hayley decided. She raced over to the window and looked out.

The roof was just slanted, just enough for someone to slide down into the alley below it. When someone had vampire blood and was fearful of injury… It would be a piece of cake. Hayley slammed the window shut and stormed out of the room.

* * *

New Orleans was full of witches. In fact, there was a whole part of the city where the witches sold their magical herbs. It was in a back-alley, probably only set up after Marcel stopped killing them for using magic. Hope found it easily enough when she knew what to look for and grabbed the first witch she saw, pinning her against the nearest brick wall.

"The witches took Klaus and Rebekah. A feat like that wouldn't be kept secret in the witch community. So which one of you is going to tell me where to find them?" Hope asked, looking around at the rest of the witches.

"You dare to come against us in these numbers?" One of them demanded.

"I dare." Hope agreed. Pain erupted in her head, something she was expecting, but it still knocked her to her knees. Flames flared up around them, the tables and carts engulfed in seconds. The witches all had to back away and the pain disappeared. Hope jumped up, grabbed the witch she'd pinned against the wall and threw her to the ground.

"You know something! I know you know something!"

"Why would I tell you anything?"

"Because I'm done asking nicely." She jumped on the witch, the flames still separating the rest of the witches from getting to them and stopping her. She pinned the witch down with her legs while she punched her in the face, over and over.

"Hope!" She heard her name being called, but paid no attention. Her knuckles were covered with blood, both hers and the witch's. "Hope! _Hope, stop it_!" Hayley shouted, rushing over and forcefully hauled Hope off the witch. She kept her grip on Hope and sped back to the compound. One they were there, Hayley let her go and Hope jerked away from her, falling onto the ground.

Hayley was breathing hard, both from shock and from the vampire-powered run. She stared down at her daughter in shock as Hope scrambled to her feet again.

"What were you doing? You could've been killed! You could have killed that woman!" Hayley cried.

"The witches know something-."

"So your solution is trying to kill one of them?"

"If I wanted her dead, she'd be dead!" Hope snarled. She started rubbing her knuckles, trying to get the blood off. "How did you find me, anyway?"

"Vampire _and_ werewolf senses. I'm can find people pretty easily."

"Yeah, it's not like I spent sixteen years as an orphan." Hope agreed sarcastically, rubbing her knuckles harder.

"Hope!" Hayley told her sharply, angry and hurt. Hope paid her no attention; she was scrubbing at her bloody knuckles with her other hand. Hayley watched for a moment and then hurried over and grabbed her hands, forcing Hope to finally look at her. "You know what happened sixteen years ago. What is wrong with you today?"

"I can't find them! I'm the most powerful witch in New Orleans and I… I can't find them."

"Elijah and Marcel will find them."

"I should be helping. I should be finding them myself-."

"Why? What is going on with you today, Hope?"

"They would do it for me! Klaus wouldn't need help to find me!"

"You're right; he would go and kill everyone." Hayley agreed bitterly. Then she looked at Hope, the information clicking. "Do not go down that road. Do not act like Klaus."

"He gets things done."

"He's a monster."

"Not always." Hope mumbled a weak defense. Hayley sighed, letting go of Hope's wrists.

"You've got problems, baby girl." She told her. Hope didn't answer, but she didn't fight Hayley when she pulled her into a hug either. "They'll be back. You're not going to lose them. You _won't be alone_." After a moment, Hayley let Hope go again. Hope looked emotionless, still staring at her knuckles.

"I'm going to go wash my hands."

"Then we can go through those names we got from Elijah and figure everything out, no locator spells, no fires, no blood."

* * *

Hayley and Hope were gathered around the laptop in Klaus's study when Elijah came in.

"Hey, look, we found-." Hayley started. Elijah stopped her with a gesture.

"You were right about the Devereaux witch." Before Hayley could ask anything else, Marcel came into the room.

"Find anything about Clara, the mystery witch?" Hayley looked back at the laptop.

"Not much. She was a nurse at the Fleur-de-Lis Sanitarium." Marcel froze. Hayley looked at him, suspicious.

"Recognize her?" She clicked on the picture to make it bigger. "Top row, second from the right."

"No, I don't. Marcel?" Elijah asked. Marcel looked worried and more than a little alarmed. "Marcel? Do I need to remind you that Niklaus and Rebekah are somewhere suffering horribly? If you know something, talk." Elijah ordered.

"The Sanitarium. That's where you'll find them." Hope jumped up from her chair.

"Are you sure? How do you know?"

"I just know."

"How do you know?" Elijah asked again.

"If I'm right, you need to know exactly what we're walking into. We did something, Rebekah and I... I think the witches are trying to use it against her. It was, uh... something that you're not gonna like."

"What, Marcel?" Elijah asked through clenched teeth.

"When Mikael chased you guys out of the city… Rebekah and I had brought him there, to get rid of Klaus." Marcel explained hesitantly. Elijah stared at him for a moment, letting that information sink in.

"For the better part of a century, I have wondered how Father found us, what foolish mistake that we had made to destroy our time in the one place that we could finally call home. Did you know, I even blamed myself for a time, Marcellus?"

"Elijah-." Hayley started, knowing there was a fight brewing.

"Niklaus treated you like a son." Elijah continued.

"Rebekah. I loved her. I still love her. All we ever wanted was to be together, but as long as Klaus was around, that was never gonna happen. But hey, I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, huh?"

"When Klaus learns the truth, there will be no end to his rage. I will not let my sister suffer that wrath." Elijah told him, still angry.

"Then we need to get to them before he learns the truth."

"I'm coming!" Hope said instantly.

"No-." Elijah started sharply.

" _We're_ coming." Hayley cut him off insistently. "Celeste will be there and we need her to break the curse on our pack. We will get her and stay away from Klaus and Rebekah." Hayley compromised. Elijah didn't have time to argue; he nodded to her and they hurried off.

* * *

Celeste jogged out of the Sanitarium, heading down the steps. Suddenly, she was off her feet and flying through the air. She flew right down the steps and hit her head on the cement below, knocking her out. Hayley looked over at Hope as Hope lowered her hand.

"Nice job." Without replying, Hope turned and started to run into the building. Hayley caught her arms and pulled her back.

"This isn't your fight-."

"They're my family-."

"This isn't your fight." Hayley repeated. Keeping her hold on Hope, she turned to look at the unconscious Celeste. "Let's get this witch to do something good for once."


	21. To Suffer, Always and Forever

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope rushed into the compound, sprinting past vampires and up the stairs. The second she hit Klaus's room, she froze. Klaus was shirtless on the bed, eyes closed in pain, gasping for breath. Elijah stood over him, watching him with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"This was all you." He said quietly to his brother.

"What did I just walk into?" Hope asked.

"Niklaus has a mystical torture device buried in his chest."

"What?"

"Every second it remains causes Niklaus untold suffering."

"Who stabbed him?" She demanded.

"I did, and now I intend to remove it. You might want to take a step back."

"Don't get me wrong, calling me was very considerate of you since my father is suffering and all, but… why am I here?" Elijah had, more accurately, called Hayley. Hayley had let her go alone back to the compound on the condition that she was to return to the bayou as soon as she could.

"Because of all the people that could be here, you're probably the only one he wouldn't immediately slaughter." Elijah took a knife and sliced into Klaus. Hope turned around, not wanting to see Elijah jam his hand into the open wound to grab the knife inside. "Also, you might be one of the few that will stop him from slaughtering our sister."

"What?" Hope turned back around as Elijah finally pulled the knife out of Klaus's chest and Klaus yelled in pain. Elijah looked back at Hope.

"And, if necessary, you may be one of the few that can contain him without fear of retaliation." He turned back to Klaus, who was barely conscious. "Niklaus, it was not my desire to bring you pain, but I will not see you hurt Rebekah."

"What do I do? Just sit here and say 'hey, killing your sister is wrong'?"

"Whatever you believe will work. I have to end this witch threat, once and for all." Elijah brushed past her, then stopped and handed her a blood bag, already opened.

"This is mixed with Vervain; feed it to him slowly, please."

"Why would you mix it with Vervain?"

"Because it will burn him and keep him down."

"Oh, of course." Hope agreed, halfway sarcastic. Elijah disappeared in a blur of speed, so Hope turned back to Klaus. She went to sit on his bedside and offer him the blood bag. He devoured it quickly, barely even raising his head to do it. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"As you may have yet to realize, Hope, the line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines."

"Great, now if you want to stop being dramatic, I have a few questions. We'll start with why you want to kill Rebekah."

"She betrayed me."

"Oh, no, it's not like you've done that to anyone else." Hope's sarcasm stung like a knife. She tucked her legs underneath her with a sigh. "What'd she do?" She asked.

"She has done what no one else has managed to do to me for a thousand years... Rip my heart out."

"So she brought Mikael to town. You obviously survived." Hope felt obligated to point out.

"You survived your foster father, yet you wouldn't want him coming to town, would you?" That was a low blow; they both knew it.

"He's dead." Hope said finally, glaring at Klaus. "So is Mikael, so get over it." Klaus started to get out of bed, but he was far too weak. Hope watched him and then flicked her hand. He was pushed back against the bed and she looked down at him.

"You are not going to get to Rebekah."

"And what will you do?"

"Don't push me." She warned, getting up and walking over to the table where Elijah had set out a couple of more blood bags. She grabbed another one and threw it to Klaus. "Drink. Maybe with your mouth full, you won't talk so much."

After another bag of blood, Klaus got out of bed. Hope started to raise her hand, but Klaus just smirked at her.

"Relax. I'm just getting a drink." He poured himself a scotch.

"Not sure that helps."

"Not sure it doesn't." He shot back.

"Fair enough." She admitted. Somewhat absentmindedly, she reached for a glass, but he moved the bottle out of her reach. She rolled her eyes. "You're not going to go after Rebekah. You love her and Elijah."

"Don't speak to me of Elijah."

"He loves you, but he will stop her. Just like I will."

"Yes. Elijah does, and he proves it time and again, even when my father enlisted him to kill me."

"You keep saying 'kill', but, in case you hadn't noticed, you're immortal. You can't be killed." Hope reminded him.

"Oh, but we can. And my father was the only one with the means to do it. A white oak stake, fashioned by my father to take from us the very thing he forced upon us all, our immortality." Klaus's phone buzzed and he looked at it, smirking. "My sister and her lover have been spotted in town. So, our lovely little chat ends here, I'm afraid." He knocked a statue off the table and it broke on the floor, revealing the stake that was inside.

"What is that?" Hope demanded.

"A white oak stake, my own special version. And, unlike my father's, this one cannot be destroyed." He sped off, a blur of speed, and Hope gaped after him. She could hear Elijah's voice already: _you had one job_.

Hope ran to the window and looked out. Klaus was feeding on a random man in the otherwise abandoned street. Relieved he hadn't gone far, Hope pushed open the window and slid down the roof, landing lighting on her feet after the drop. Klaus turned around.

"What are you doing?" She meant 'why are you feeding on a random guy in clear view of anyone looking out their window', but Klaus didn't take it that way.

"Well, if you have to ask, you obviously haven't been paying attention. I'm going to kill my sister, but first, I needed some sustenance with a little less Vervain in it."

"You are not going to kill Rebekah."

"Yes, you seem very opposed to this idea, yet you have made no move to stop me."

"Don't." She warned, knowing he was about to run off again. He looked at her, slightly amused as he waited for her to try and make him do anything. "If you go after Rebekah, how does that make you different than Mikael?" Just like him mentioning her foster father, she knew she'd hit a sore spot. He looked like she'd slapped him and it was a few seconds before he responded.

"I've been called every shade of monster, but that's new. My father? Mikael was the monster monsters were afraid of. Come. Let me show you." Before she could protest, he grabbed her and vamp-sped away.

When they stopped, she saw they were in front of an old, burned down opera house. Shaking her head and trying to ignore her whiplash, Klaus spoke from behind her.

"The night in nineteen-nineteen, when the opera house burned down on this very spot? That was my father at his worst. And what a show it was. He had Marcel, staked through the hands to a wooden cross onstage. My former lover sitting there, a stake through her chest. Mikael compelled the audience to watch it all, applaud as if it were the drollest of comedies, and then to leave celebrating a terrific night at the opera. I tried to save Marcel. My father had other ideas. Rebekah attempted to intervene. All these years, I actually believed she was trying to save me. But then big brother swooped in. Just when we thought all was lost. And so I ran, beaten like the dog my father believed me to be. And as we fled for our lives, he burnt it all to the ground. And with it, we assumed, Marcel. I lived, but all that we had built died, as did the last shred of me that felt human. That is what my father took from me that night. I assure you, hope, I will not terrorize my sister and her lover for centuries. Nor will I humiliate and torment or dehumanize them. No, none of that. I will simply and quickly end them."

"No, you're not." Hope told him again. He started to turn away, but she held out her hand and he couldn't move. She threw him to the ground. "If I have to stay here, all night, to fight you, I will."

"I do not wish to hurt you, love, but I will if I have to." Klaus snarled. She threw him around again and he hit a car, blood dripping off his busted lip. He sped towards her and she held out her hand, stopping him once more and then slamming him to the ground again.

"You're my father! You think I want to do this! I have to stop my _father_ from murdering my _aunt_!" She yelled, the injustice of it all getting to her. He was on his feet again. She flicked her hand and he flew against another car.

"Hope!" He was getting angry now.

"Oh, bite me!" That was exactly the wrong choice of words, because it seemed to give him an idea. He sped forward, ignored the pain she caused to erupt in his head, and sank his teeth into her wrist. She screamed, startled and hurt. Klaus stepped back.

"I'll be back to heal you of that. In the mean time, enjoy." With that, Klaus sped off before she could stop him. She looked down at the bite on her wrist and then up at where he'd gone.

* * *

Klaus knew that he had made a terrible mistake as he walked into the Compound. They had spent an entire night in the cemetery. The last time Hope was suffering from werewolf venom, it took about as long before they were in the pool, trying desperately to slow the fever down.

He was surprised and more than a little confused when Hope bounded down the stairs, angry, but perfectly healthy.

"Klaus!" The next thing he knew, he was pinned against the wall. She was seething, glaring at him, her face red and he could hear her heart pounding.

"And here I came to heal you."

"You left your blood on the street. I didn't need healing. And, before you ask, I used magic; I wasn't just licking the pavement." She explained. She let him go, for the sole purpose watching him hit the ground harder than he'd expected. He got to his feet.

"I'll have you know that Rebekah still lives." He grumbled, annoyed and angry with her. She looked at him, surprised.

"What?"

"Hope!" Rebekah hurried into the Compound, looking relieved to see her still alive. Klaus stormed out of the room, leaving the two of them to talk.

"Rebekah, you're okay!"

"I came to say goodbye."

"What?" Hope looked at her like she couldn't understand what Rebekah was saying.

"Well, Nik and I came to a sort of all-or-nothing arrangement. I leave town for good, and he allows me to. Can't pass that up." Hope was still staring at her, but she quickly recovered from her shock and tried to make a joke.

"A thousand years with Klaus? I guess you deserve a few vacation days."

"Listen." Rebekah pulled her further away from where Klaus had gone. "About Nik, he is a monster. Do not _ever_ cross him. But, he does want more from life than to just be feared. He's too broken to find it himself, but I do believe there is hope for him. In you."

"I threw him around and he bit me."

"You both have a temper." Rebekah told her, smiling slightly. "Hope, our family has no shortage of enemies. You will inherit _all_ of them sooner or later. Please, be careful."

"I can take care-."

"Of yourself, I know, darling. But you do want Nik on your side. He's done some unforgivable things, but I'm asking you to forgive me. You and him together… Nothing will ever hurt you again." Rebekah promised.

"You know, you can always come back and visit. I can keep a secret."

"I know you can." Rebekah pulled her into a tight hug. "If I can't… I want you to remember your crazy Auntie Bex. And, remember, despite my absence, I do love you very much."

"I love you too." Hope mumbled into her shoulder.

"Another thing." Rebekah pulled away to look at her. "Your friend-."

"I don't have any friends."

"Davina. She's alive."

"What?" Hope had been asking that a lot that night, but every time was justified.

"She's alive. You've got a friend, Hope. If not Nik, you've got friends and you've got Elijah and your mother. You'll be okay without me."

"Doubtful." Hope said, forcing a smile onto her face. Rebekah smiled back and pulled her into another hug.

"Goodbye, Hope."

"Bye." Rebekah let her go and, with one last smile, walked out of the compound.


	22. All is Fair in War

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

The Bayou was filled with people when Hope wandered into it, more than a little surprised at the change. She dodged two wrestling werewolves and went over to Hayley and Jackson. Noticing her for the first time, they both smiled in greeting. Hayley held out her arms for a hug, which Hope obliged to.

"Come here to avoid your dad or are you actually going to spend time with us?" Hayley questioned.

"Both." Hope told her, looking over at Jackson. "Hey, shouldn't you be out there playing _Rocky_ with the rest of your frat boys?"

"Nah. That's just for pecking order. They already know who's the Alpha."

"Yes, it's good that they know I'm the princess." Hope agreed, smugly. Jackson laughed, reaching over to ruffle her hair before he walked away.

"This is what I wanted." Hayley said softly, watching the werewolves.

"I like Jackson. We're keeping him." Hope told her, with the tone that suggested it wasn't up for debate.

"You like him, huh?" Hayley asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"Not like that!" Hope protested quickly. "He's cool. He protects me without patronizing me, despite him touching my hair." She fixed her hair and then went to lean against the nearest tree.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Hayley asked.

"Why not?" Hope shrugged it off like it didn't matter.

"How are things at the compound?" Hayley pressed. Hope pretended to be very interested in the wrestling match in front of them and Hayley was about to either drop it or press further when she finally answered:

"Fine."

"Liar." Hope and Hayley smiled at each other. Hayley held out an arm, wrapping it around Hope's shoulders as they headed into the house on the property for dinner. There was a long table set up, piled high with food. The pack all started taking their places on either side of the table.

"You gotta try Tucker's ribs." Jackson said, coming up behind the girls.

"Then, what? Then we're gonna go play horseshoes?" Hope asked.

"Hey! Don't mock country living, darlin'."

"Sorry. This is just a lot more family fun than I'm used to."

"Yeah, your family probably just eats people together, right?" The blonde werewolf, Oliver, asked her. Hope shot a look at him and said nothing. "Hey, we're cool, kid. I mean, all we got to do is just forget that she spent half her life with humans and witches, and the other half with vampires."

"Ollie, back off." Jackson snarled.

"No, no." Hope held up a hand. "If the runt of the litter wants something to say something, let's see if he _can_ string a whole sentence together. Go on, you're doing great. You almost sound like you had an education past the second grade." Hope encouraged sarcastically.

"Well, sorry we don't all get to hang out with blood suckers that can compel anything they want. I bet you're having a bunch of fun with them. What do they feed you? Raw meat, or have they completely transitioned you to blood? I know your mother can't get enough of the stuff." That was it. Hope hit him, hard. He stumbled back and hit a pillar in the house, then came back snarling.

Hope was more than ready for him, but Jackson got in the way and then Hayley's hands were on her arms, restraining her and ready to pull her to safety at the same time.

"Back off. You're done." Jackson told him sternly. But Oliver wasn't.

"You know, word from the Quarter is your uncle Elijah's holding some kind of power summit. Guess who wasn't invited?"

"Where did you hear this?" Hayley demanded.

"It doesn't matter. The point is that we're stuck here living in the swamp, while your vampire family deciding who gets what in the city. But, I guess that shows how much respect he's got for the werewolves, huh?" Oliver scoffed and walked away. Hayley pulled Hope closer to whisper in her ear.

"I'll be back."

"Mom-."

"Stay here. They'll learn to respect you." With that, Hayley slipped out the door again. Jackson turned to look at Hope and offered his arm, indicating that she should stay close to his side.

"Here."

"I can handle myself." She brushed past him and then sat down right next to Oliver at the table, flashing him a smile. A few of the other werewolves, impressed, started passing her platters full of food and filling her glass while Oliver sat there, seething. Shaking his head and smiling, Jackson went to grab a seat at the table as well.

* * *

Hope stood on the back porch overlooking the lake, phone to her ear. Hayley had gotten her one and she didn't intend to lose it as easily as the last.

"Your attic is sounding pretty nice right about now."

" _You are more than welcome to visit if you get tired of the wolves_." Davina returned. There was a pause before she spoke again. " _Don't let them get you down… That Oliver guy is being a bully_."

"Well, I didn't call to cry about bullies. What's up with you?"

" _The other witches, they… Well, I didn't answer your call to cry about bullies either_." She said with a chuckle. Hope thought she had been content with her mother and Rebekah, but it was nice to have another girl to talk to. Especially someone her age who understood what magic was like, how terrifying the danger they had to face was, someone who own age with similar problems. Davina coming back to life was something she had chalked up to being the best event of the year, which was saying something.

"Kick their butt. Make them respect you."

" _Easily said than done._ "

"They're teenage girls, how tough can they be? I don't know what they fed this dude, but I think it was illegal."

" _You know what Marcel taught me?_ "

"Mmhmm?"

" _Knees, nuts, neck. A punch or kick there and he'll go down._ "

"Hey, don't doubt me, I can wrestle. Some witches in the quarter can attest to that. The problem being, I don't think I can reach this guy's neck!" Davina laughed. She heard the door open behind her and someone step out onto the porch. "I gotta go. Talk to you later."

" _Oh, okay, bye_!" She could Davina was disappointed, but she just echoed the 'bye' and hung up. Turning, she expected Jackson. She was disappointed to see Oliver instead.

"Talking to your vampire daddy about how to correcting bite me?" He asked. Hope rolled her eyes as she put her phone back into her pocket.

"Don't be a drama queen. Talking to my best friend about how to properly throat punch you if you piss me off." She corrected. She started to brush past him, but he caught her arm and shoved her back. She stumbled a few feet and caught her balance. She looked up at him.

"Really?" She demanded.

"You're not one of us. You and your mutt of a mother-."

"I would love to see it from your point of view, but I can't seem to get my head that far up my-." Oliver's hand closed around her throat and she found herself fighting for breath. She focused on him and he let out a yell of pain, dropping to his knees. Hope stopped, backing away and gasping for breath.

Oliver was back on his feet, even angrier than when she'd said beside him at dinner. Normally, she was pleased with herself when she angered a person. Now, trapped between the water and an angry werewolf, she was reconsidering the decisions that had led her to that point. Oliver charged her again. She side-stepped out of the way and kicked him in the back of the knee. As he stumbled, losing his balance, she kicked him in the rear and sent him tumbling over the side of the dock into the water. She had hoped that would calm him down a little and make _him_ reconsider _his_ decisions, but it only seemed to make him angrier. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her easily off the dock.

Oliver held her underneath the water, hands wrapped around her throat. She kicked at him, tried to focus enough to give him the headache of the century, but he was very intent on drowning her. She choked on water, gasping for oxygen that just wasn't there.

Then the weight on top of her was gone. She sat up to get her head above water and Jackson hauled her out onto the dock as a soaking wet Oliver was practically dragged away by the other werewolves. She coughed up water and lied down on the dock, gasping for much needed breath.

Jackson leaned over her worriedly.

"Hey, you alright?"

"He tried to kill me."

"He's got a temper."

"So do I. I didn't try to drown anyone!" She rolled over onto her stomach to look around for any other threat. Her hair was soaked and sticking to her face and her clothes were uncomfortably heavy and hanging on her.

"He's not going to try anything like that again." Jackson promised. Hope pushed herself to her feet, fighting with the over-shirt that was intent on slipping off her shoulders. "Hey, hey, calm down. You're fine." Jackson added, trying to grab her hands and restrain her. She shook him off and headed off the dock and towards the road. She heard Jackson sigh behind her and then he was hurrying after her, easily over-taking her and getting in front of her to block her. She tried to step past him and he blocked her again, grabbing her shoulders. She cut off any comforting words he had to say with words of her own.

"Look, what you got here is great. You guys are one big happy family and I'm the red-headed step child. I get that."

"What?"

"Never mind. I can take Oliver insulting me. I may not like it, but I can roll with the punches. But if he insults my mother for something that wasn't her fault to begin with one more time, I'm going to-."

"He won't. I will get him under control. Where do you think you're going?"

"Home."

"This is-."

"Home is where people don't try to kill you. Klaus may be a pain and he's a little trigger happy with his teeth, but he's never actually tried to _drown me_!" Hope cried, her voice rising in pitch. Jackson could tell that, whether she was willing to admit it or not, she was freaked out by the attempt. She could prepare for what she was used to. Witches with spells? Sure, bring it on. Vampires with fangs? That was child's play. A hybrid with venomous fangs? Why not? But a werewolf, a member of her own pack, trying to drown her? That was new and she hadn't been prepared for that. She was the most powerful witch in the quarter and she couldn't focus enough to fight him off. She was freaking out and Jackson could understand that, even if he couldn't exactly _relate_ to that.

He ripped his jacket off and put it over her shoulders; she was shivering and eagerly accepted the offering, wrapping it tighter around her. Jackson let out another sigh and rubbed her shoulders.

"You're fine."

"What happened?" The panicked voice that interrupted their conversation belonged to Hayley; they knew that before they even turned around. Hayley blurred over and took Hope's face in her hands, examining her for injuries that would've already healed anyway.

"Ollie got a bit carried away. I'll handle him." Jackson promised. Hayley tore her eyes away from Hope to look at him.

"You'd better have that talk with him before the party."

"What party?" Hope asked before Jackson could even think to.

"Elijah's throwing an impromptu party at the Compound for all the factions. We're going to represent the werewolves. If you're taking Oliver, keep him on a leash." Hayley warned Jackson. Glancing back at Hope, she hastened to add: "And away from the Mikaelson's. They may be insane vampires, but they'd kill anyone who touches her."

"Speaking of the Compound, I am going home. When is this party?"

"Tomorrow night."

"Good. I'll be able to avoid No-Brainer for a good twenty-four hours." Hope started to walk away, then turned around to hand Jackson back his jacket back before hurrying off. Hayley looked at Jackson.

"I'd better take her-."

"Yeah, take her home." He agreed, nodding. Hayley sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"I wanted this to work. I wanted her to have a home away from those people, but-."

"It will work. Oliver will have to learn to live with it. I want you guys to be able to live here too." Jackson assured her. Hayley smiled at him.

"Thanks, Jack." She squeezed his arm and then hurried after Hope.

* * *

"What happened?!" Klaus roared as he saw Hope, still soaking wet and smelling like werewolves, come into the compound. Hayley rolled her eyes at his immediate anger.

"Nothing. She's fine."

"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it-."

"Take mine. I'm fine." Hope told him, brushing past him. He caught her arm, holding her there as he faced Hayley.

"If this was one of those wolves-."

"There's a lake there. I fell in." Hope lied through her teeth and hoped he'd buy he. He seemed to consider it and apparently accepted her lie as truth. He let her arm go.

"I'm going back to the Bayou unless you want me to stay-."

"Yes, please, go." Klaus told her. Hayley ignored him, looking at Hope.

"I'm fine." She repeated. Hayley nodded and left, shooting one last glance at Klaus. Klaus turned to face her.

"You have a tell when you're lying, Baby Wolf."

"Does my heart skip a beat?" She asked, half serious.

"You look me in the eyes while you speak and then immediately look away."

"You're weird that you noticed that." She informed him, heading for the stairs.

"Did you have fun with those mutts out in the Bayou? Did your mother take you hunting for some nice deer for dinner?"

"Stop it!" Hope whirled around mid-step and the entire room seemed to shake. "I am sick and tired of people insulting me and my mother tonight, so just stop it!" He had been saying those things as a tease, a mild insult to her mother considering what he could have said. Still, she looked as if he'd personally insulted her honor, her face, her weight and anything else a girl cared about all in one fell swoop. Turning around again, Hope stomped up the stairs.

* * *

For an impromptu party, Elijah and Klaus had really set up something nice. Hope lingered on the stairs, dressed more formally than she was accustomed to. With Klaus's money, she'd bought herself very expensive that she would probably never wear again in her life.

"I'm impressed, brother." Elijah spoke to Klaus as they went over to Hope.

"Yes."

"Now if I can just keep them from tearing one another to shreds."

"Well, then for your sake, here's to a spectacularly boring evening." Klaus raised his glass and smiled over at Elijah somewhat sarcastically. Hope looked down at the crowd below them and spotted Oliver. She had realized how intently she was glaring at him until Elijah put a hand on her shoulder.

"Is everything alright?"

"See that blonde werewolf?"

"Yes."

"If I kill him tonight, know that he started it!" With that, she turned away, her black skirt whirling around her legs. She headed down the stairs into the party. Diego and some of the other vampires passed Jackson, Hayley and Oliver.

"What's up, little man?" Diego purposely bumped into Jackson as he passed and Oliver started towards him.

"He's not even worth it." Jackson told him quietly.

"Hope!" Hayley greeted her, smiling. Hope went over to them, purposely ignoring Oliver. "You look nice."

"As opposed to my normal simply okay-ish look? Excuse me." She headed away from the werewolves to go to Davina. Davina immediately brightened up and hugged Hope.

"It's nice to see a witch that doesn't insult my very existence." She whispered.

"Likewise, kind of." Hope agreed.

"Do they serve anything non-alcoholic here?"

"I have no idea. Here." Hope grabbed two glasses of something off a tray from a nearby waiter and offered Davina one. They examined the liquid and then, shrugging, drank them like shots. Davina coughed.

"I think that was alcohol."

"We need more, for sure." Hope told her. Davina laughed and shook her head.

"I have known you for maybe two weeks, altogether, and I know you're crazy already."

"Let me tell you a secret." She motioned for Davina to lean closer, which the other witch did. "Crazy is just what boring people call the fun people."

Oliver strode over to them and they both looked at him. Davina smiled slightly, obviously not recognizing him from Hope's vague descriptions.

"Hey. You look, um…"

"Nervous? Out of place? Short in this dress?" Davina asked.

"I was gonna say _pretty_. So, what's the name of the girl I'm about to ask to dance?" Another girl, one of the witches, appeared out of nowhere.

"Monique. Her name is Monique." Monique took Oliver's hand and they went onto the dance floor, with Monique shooting a cruel smirk over her shoulder at Davina. Davina swallowed hard and started to walk away, but Hope caught her arm and held her there.

"Don't get upset, you just dodged a bullet."

"Excuse me?"

"That's Oliver. No-brainer. Tried to drown me right after I got off the phone with you last night."

"What?" Davina asked, looking shocked.

"I couldn't even get him off me with magic. I couldn't focus!" Hope complained. Davina was silent for a minute and then turned to look at her again.

"You don't know control yet. You either hold in your emotions too much or you let them out at the wrong time. Next time someone tries to hurt you, you bring out every emotion you have and you focus all that on them. You'll hurt 'em bad."

"Think so?"

"Know so." Davina assured her. She glanced around the dance floor. "What's up with your uncle and that girl?"

"Which girl?"

"That one." Davina pointed.

"That's my mom."

"Your uncle is dating your mom?"

"They're just dancing." Hope protested.

"They seem pretty cozy…"

"If you're going to suggest that they're hooking up, we can't be friends anymore." Hope said, half-serious. Davina smiled and shook her head.

"Your family's got problems. Want to try something else alcoholic?"

"Is it still illegal to drink underage if you don't intend on getting drunk?"

"I don't know."

"I don't even care, either." Hope glanced around for another waiter to grab a drink from, but Davina grabbed her hand to get her attention back.

"Oliver's not with Monique anymore."

"Is he coming over here? I'll brain pain him so hard-."

"No, but I think he's about to get into a fight with one of the vampires." Hope followed Davina's eyes to the bar just in time to see Diego throwing Oliver across the courtyard onto a table of champagne glasses. Davina gasped, backing up from the massive fight that was about to happen. Hope started forward at the same time, but Elijah was already pulling Oliver away from Diego.

"This ends _now_. I won't ask again."

"Oh, we'll end it all right." Jackson pushed Diego against the wall, a stake aimed for his heart.

"What's stopping you? Kill him. Go ahead, Elijah. Do it. I mean, it's not like he doesn't deserve to die." Hayley spoke loud enough to be heard over the murmuring crowd. Klaus and the representative of the human faction had gotten close enough to Davina and Hope for the girls to hear them.

"Shouldn't you intervene or something?"

"Why would I? This party just got interesting."

"I mean, it was Oliver who handed Rebekah over to the witches so they could torture her and tried to drown my daughter just because she's a Mikaelson too. But, then again, wasn't it Diego who led a werewolf massacre last month? And the witches cursed the wolves, while the humans stood back and let it all happen. So, when you think about it, everyone here deserves to die."

"Are you approaching a point?" Elijah asked her, angry.

"My point, Elijah, is this: if we can't all learn to get along, if our families can't create some sort of community, then what's the point? Kill each other and get it all over with." After a moment of hesitation, Elijah released Oliver and Jackson let go of Diego and Hayley nodded approvingly.

"Your mom is awesome." Davina whispered.

"Yeah, she is."

* * *

The peace treaty was easy after that… Getting Klaus to sign it wasn't as easy. After everyone had left, Elijah was arguing with Klaus about it.

"Sign it."

"Why? You've already done so on our behalf."

"Brother, I am not a fool. It's clear to me you're not as disinterested as you'd like me to believe. Sign, please. If there is no peace between us, then how can you expect others to follow suit?"

"Fine, if it will make you happy. But, I assure you, this city's inhabitants will not adhere to this agreement." Klaus signed the contract somewhat reluctantly.

"Well, you are welcome to wager against me. You will lose."

"We'll see." Klaus smirked at him and walked over to the stairs. He stooped down to grab Hope's wrists from where she was sitting. "You, up, before you fall asleep on the stairs."

"I'm turning into an insomniac." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Come on." He insisted, dragging her up towards her bedroom. Elijah stayed behind, looking down at the peace treaty and wondering how long it would last.


	23. Fate of Blessings

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hayley held up a dress in front of herself in the mirror, debating what to wear to the witch party the werewolves were practically ordered to go to. Hope was lounging on the bed behind her and Hayley turned for her opinion. Hope just shrugged at her.

"The black one."

"You always say 'go for black'." Hayley scoffed, but tossed the other dress aside anyway. "I don't dress up for a lot of things."

"Neither do I." Hope admitted, but her eyes were on the door leading to the back porch. Hayley looked at her and then listened with vampire hearing.

"Jack and Ollie are talking." She reported, unconcerned. Hope got up and walked out onto the back porch without a word. Jackson and Oliver immediately stopped talking when she stepped outside.

"What is this? High School?" She asked.

"Isn't that where you should be? Why don't you take the hint and mind your own business?" Hope shot Oliver a dirty look and started to leave, but then stopped.

"You know what? No." She grabbed his arm, spun him around, twisting his arm behind his back and pinned him against the corner of the building face-first. "I have tried to play nice. I really have. For, what, almost two months now? I'm done. What is your problem and what is going on?"

"You can go to-."

"Ollie, knock it off. There's no reason to keep it from her."

"I can think of a reason. Tall and immortal and wears a pocket scarf." Oliver struggled against her, but she had the leverage over him and kept him there.

"Hope, you're one of us. You deserve to know. Now, let him go, would you?" Hope released Oliver and he whirled, ready to hit her. Jackson gave him a look that should have killed him and Oliver settled for glaring at Hope. Hayley stepped onto the porch, looking between all of them and focusing on Hope.

"I'm starting to see why Klaus doesn't let you out much."

"Explanation, please." Hope told Jackson, ignoring her mother's comment.

"We made an alliance that's gonna change everything for the wolves." Jackson explained.

"An alliance with who?"

"Klaus." Hayley stepped forward, looking worried and angry at the same time.

"Tell me everything."

* * *

The witch party was called the Fate of Blessings Party. The irony wasn't lost on anyone, considering it involved Harvest Girls. Hayley and Hope stood near Elijah as the representatives of the werewolves. Genevieve stood in front of the quests, smiling brightly. Hope didn't care that she seemed to be less violent than the rest of the witches. She didn't even care that Genevieve and her father seemed to have some weird relationship going on. She didn't trust the red-head.

"Welcome. As is our time-honored tradition, you are all welcome to deliver your offerings. It is our custom that no one should be turned away, no blessing be denied."

"Can you give this to Davina?" Hayley whispered to Hope, handing her a neatly wrapped package. Hayley was intent on getting a word with Klaus, which was easier said than done.

"Yeah, sure." Hope went to the line and, ended up near the front. She watched as the people in front of her were either directed to or of their own accord gave their gifts to Monique or the other Harvest Girl, completely ignoring Davina. Monique shot Davina a smug look every time. As Hope got to front of the line with Hayley's gift and her own, an attendant leaned forward to whisper to her.

"That goes to either Abigail or Monique."

"No, it goes to Davina."

"But-." Hope brushed past her and handed the gifts to Davina, who smiled gratefully. Hope shot a look at Monique for good measure as she walked away.

Standing by the staircase, Hope had a good view of the gifts the Harvest Girls were getting. Besides the ones that she'd personally given to her, Davina had nothing else and Monique was getting more and more smug by the second. As it finally ended, Davina, looking near tears, collected what Hope had given her and hurried away.

"Hey, Davina!" Hope hurried after her.

"It's fine. They just want to make me feel bad, like usual."

"What is stopping you from punching them in the face? All three of them?" Hope demanded. Davina was opening her mouth to respond when Josh appeared.

"Davina, hey!"

"Josh, what are you doing here?"

"Are you kidding me? Music, wind, fire? The club kid in me is in, like, heaven. You, however, don't look so happy."

"I'm fine, really. Come on." Davina led them to an empty room. "I just want this night to be over." She admitted with a sigh.

"Well, we could go with to an actual club if that's your thing-." Josh started.

"No, I just… I just want things to go back to the way they were."

"Tough luck, Short-Stack. You got dealt a crap hand, but you can't change it now." Hope told her. Davina nodded to her.

"Yeah, I know. And don't call me that. You're just tall." She protested, smiling slightly. Hope simply smirked, an expression that made her look more like Klaus than usual.

"Joshua." Klaus came into the room with a smile. "What a fortunate coincidence, finding you here. We have unfinished business."

"You need to leave here. Right now." Davina warned.

"Now, to be fair, love, you're not quite as powerful as you once were, are you? You're in no position to give orders." He sped over to Josh and grabbed him by the neck. "Come along, lad."

"Hey, can we talk about this?"

"Klaus!" Hope protested, but he was already gone with Josh. Davina and Hope hurried back into the main room of the party, where Klaus was standing on the stairs with Josh, all the guests looking at them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. We are gathered here today to pay homage to our beloved witches, but one very special witch has been utterly ignored. That seems a little unfair to me." He held out a small box to Davina, but she shook her head.

"No. I don't want your gift."

"I understand why you would reject me, given our past. In truth, many of us here today have been wronged in the conflict which my brother's treaty ended. Your friend Josh was involved in a plot to kill me. It would be well within my right to execute him here and now. But, in the spirit of solidarity, and for your favor, Davina, I hereby pardon him. Josh from this day forward, you have nothing to fear from me. Please." He handed her box and walked away. Davina let out a sigh of relief and Josh grinned.

"So, are you gonna open it?" He asked. Davina opened the box and pulled out a ring and a small, folded up piece of parchment. "What? What is it?" Josh asked.

"It's the spell that makes daylight rings. Josh… I can make a daylight ring for you!" Josh grinned and hugged her while she laughed in relief. They both turned to Hope.

"Since when does your dad do nice things?"

"He's having an off day, apparently."

A large group of drummers came into the party and everyone looked at each other. Davina and Josh looked at Hope, as if she knew what was going on.

"Happy _Fête des Bénédictions_. We have a message for all of you from Marcel Gerard." All the drummers took out straight razors and slit their wrists open, bleeding all over the floor. The non-Original vampires in the room started to get antsy and vamp-out. Josh swallowed hard and steered Davina and Hope towards the back of the room.

"Control yourselves. This is a vulgar trick. We do not violate our agreement." Elijah called out. The lights all turned off, leaving the room in complete darkness.

"Davina, Hope, come on!" Josh started pulling Davina to safety, but Hope found herself dragged away from someone else. Teeth sunk into her neck and she let out a yell. The vampire let her go just as suddenly as he'd grabbed her and all the lights came back on.

Hope was on the floor, her hand against the healing yet still bleeding wound on her throat. She looked around. On the walls, someone had written 'THERE WILL BE NO PEACE' in blood. There were dozens of either dead or injured humans lying on the ground. Elijah was looking around, stunned. Even Klaus looked mildly shocked. Across the room, Hayley was gasping, hand over her mouth. Blood was dripping off her lips, showing she'd taken a bite out of someone. She looked at Hope, her eyes pleading with her, wanting her to believe that she really did have control over her vampire side, despite the evidence otherwise.

Someone grabbed her arm and she whirled, but it was just Klaus helping her to her feet. Elijah was hovering over Hayley, concerned and more than a little surprised. Klaus pulled Hope closer to him.

"Who did this?"

"I don't know. It was dark, in case you didn't notice." She pulled her hand away from the throat; the wound had healed, though her dress was ruined. Klaus growled and tightened his grip on her arm.

"Come on, we're getting out of here."

* * *

"Blood on the walls. Pile of bodies. All in all, I'd say message received." Thierry bragged to Marcel in Marcel's loft. Marcel looked at him, worried.

"Did you get Davina out first?"

"As planned, Josh took care of Davina. I made sure the other Harvest girls got out in the clear. Even got to take a bite out of Hope Mikaelson herself." Thierry told him, smiling.

"You took a bite out of Hope Mikaelson?"

"They build her up to be the biggest bad out there, but she's nothing." Thierry said, scoffing in disgust. Marcel looked at him, a little peeved, but moved on.

"That was just the warning shot. Now we double down."

"Marcel!" Elijah sped into the room, threw Thierry against the wall and went to get face-to-face with Marcel. "I warned you. And yet still, you return to the French Quarter."

"You gonna kill me, Elijah? Go ahead. But then you won't know what Klaus has got going with that witch in his pocket."

"Oh, whatever shall I do? I suppose I could just ask him."

"Yeah. Make sure he tells you all about the secret meetings with the werewolves. That is, if he's still speaking to you once he knows that you killed me."

"Do you not know me?" Elijah shoved his hand into Marcel's chest, grabbing his heart. Thierry jumped forward to protect him, but Elijah did the same to him. "For your violation." Elijah ripped out Thierry's heart, letting the body fall to the floor.

"No. No, no." Elijah ignored Marcel's ramblings and held Thierry's heart in front of his face.

"You live or you die according to my will. Try to remember that."

* * *

Klaus walked down the stairs of the compound to see Elijah waiting for him, his hands still bloody from killing Thierry. Klaus looked at him and smirked.

"Well, I see that you've already avenged Baby Wolf. But judging by your look, you're still out for blood."

"If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results, then surely my quest for your salvation ranks me as one of the maddest of men."

"Come on, then. What horrible deed have I done this time?"

"Do you know, in the past, I actually appreciated the methods to your manipulations? However, now, here we are, poised on the brink of a new era which will benefit not only your home but your child, and you go behind my back to conspire with wolves."

"Conspire is hardly the word I would use for a family council. Lest you forget, Elijah, they are my family as much as any Mikaelson. A name, in truth, I cannot even call my own."

"How casually you disavow a thousand years of allegiance towards you."

"And now that I've found the remnants of my other family, am I to ignore their plight? I would've thought you'd support my desire to help them, when in doing so I help Hope and Hayley."

"Do not question my allegiance towards that child."

"Oh, and I suppose your affection for Hayley has nothing to do with your tireless dedication. Yes, you see, I saw how you cared for her tonight, when she revealed her true self in front of her own daughter. The zeal with which you destroy those who would harm her or her daughter."

"I have denied every single impulse I have had for that woman since I met her. Out of some misbegotten respect for intentions that you don't even have. I thought you would want your child to have parents that could love each other, or at the least, tolerate each other. I was ready to step aside and give that to you, but you don't even care."

"I'm warning you..." Klaus started.

"I'm warning you. I've forgiven you. I have stood by you. I've forsaken every single one of my desires in the name of your ridiculous redemption. No more. If I want something I'll take it. And nothing will stand in my way. If that child wishes to stay with the wolves, with her mother over you, than you have driven her away yourself and I will not feel guilt over it."

"Yes, I'm quite certain the first time she utters the word 'father' it shall be to you!" Klaus snarled.

"If that should happen, it will be your own doing." With that, Elijah left. Klaus growled and turned, going back up the stairs. As he rounded the corner, he almost tripped over Hope, who was sitting on the floor, very obviously having been listening to their argument. Klaus sighed and looked down at her.

"Davina was right… My uncle is hooking up with mom." Hope said, grimacing. Klaus chuckled.

"This family is nothing if not strange."

"I'm learning that. Am I blind or did I not see the whole Hayley-Elijah thing coming?"

"Spend enough years with Elijah and you'll learn to notice those things. Come here." He offered her hand and she took it, letting him pull her to her feet.

"I'm going to bed."

"In the Bayou or here?"

"The country lifestyle isn't appealing to me much tonight." Hope told him. He smiled slightly and motioned towards her room, turning to go towards his own.


	24. Blown Away

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

"You're making a grave mistake." Elijah stood in front of the werewolves, Hope by his side. She was there to make sure everyone played nice while Elijah spoke to the conspirators.

"So, you're just worried about us. Is that it?" Oliver asked.

"Look, Elijah. We know all about your brother's reputation, but if there is even a chance that these rings can help us take control of our curse-."

"Our _gift_." Oliver corrected him pointedly.

"Then, honestly, we don't care what he's really after. Won't have to." Jackson finished.

"I see. There are those in the Quarter who will consider this a great provocation."

"Apparently, most of them see us breathing the same way."

"You signed a pledge, and you looked me in the eye as you did so." Elijah reminded Hayley, turning to look at her. Hope examined them both carefully. Now that she knew what she was looking, it was obvious that Elijah cared about her and that Hayley wasn't sure how she felt about the whole thing.

"We don't want a fight, Elijah. We just want a better life."

"Says the girl who can already control when she changes, though not so much the blood sucking." Oliver told her, folding his arms across his chest. Hope took a step forward, but Jackson and Elijah were both already there to hold her back.

Before anything else could be said, they heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. They all looked at each other in confusion and went to see who was coming into the camp. The man on the motorcycle stopped in the middle of the encampment and looked around.

"Which one of you is in charge?"

"Who's asking?" Jackson demanded.

Without warning, Elijah sped forward and tackled the man, just as the motorcycle exploded. Everyone was thrown back by the explosion. Hope hit the side of the building and then the porch. Her ears were ringing, her vision was blurry and everything hurt. She put her hands over her head, trying to block out all the noise and the blurry images in front of her. It hurt to move too much, so she lied there, trying to make sense of what had happened.

"Hope, Hope!" As her ears finally decided to work right again, she became aware of Hayley's frantic shouting. Someone was shaking her.

All her senses came back to her at once, her daze gone. She sat up and Hayley breathed a sigh of relief, pulling her into a hug. Looking over Hayley's shoulders, Hope saw the destruction of the camp. A few choice words ran through her head, but nothing of them made it past her lips. Hayley let her go, looking around as well. Then they were moving.

Hope ran over to Jackson, who was picking himself up, covered in dirt but seemingly uninjured. Jackson opened his mouth to talk to her, but she was already moving again. A little boy was standing next to a severely burned man and she ran over to pick the child up.

"It's okay, here. Come here." She held the boy against her chest, a weak form of comfort as Jackson ran over to try and help the man. She looked around once more, this time trying to spot Elijah. He and Hayley were leaning over someone else. Hope hurried into the building, which was left intact, miraculously. She set the boy down next to the bed and kneeled down to get at eye level with him.

"Stay here, alright? You'll be safe here." With tears in his eyes, the boy nodded. She got up and ran from the building, completely jumping off the steps and skidding to a stop next to Elijah and Hayley. The werewolf they were attending to had chemical burns on his stomach and chest and Hope had to look away.

"Wolfsbane." Elijah mused.

"It must have been in the gas tank. We're the fastest. We need to take him and anyone else who can't walk on their own someone inside."

"How about a hospital?" Hope suggested.

"And have the vampires come in and slaughter us all there?" Hayley shot back. Hope fell silent. Hayley stood up to grab her arm. "You need to get someplace safe."

"I'm staying here!" Hayley considered this.

"Be careful; there might be more vampires coming." Hayley hurried away. Hope turned to where Elijah and the man were, but they were both gone too. Hope sucked in a shaking breath. Hands grabbed her from behind and she whirled around. Jackson stood behind her.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I healed."

"Alright, come on." Jackson tugged her towards more injured werewolves. Hope glanced around, trying to spot Hayley, but she was gone. Trying to force the thought of _what_ her mother was doing out of her mind, she ran to help Jackson.

* * *

Hope sat on the front steps of the porch, head in her hands. Her clothes were tattered, burned and covered in mud and dirt. She had blood all over her, none of it herself, at least not that she was aware of. The injured had all been moved together, either in the house or in front of the house. There was crying and cursing and yelling, all of which Hope was doing her best to ignore, just for a moment.

"It's a good thing that bomb went off where it did. Could've been a lot worse. We all could've got killed." Jackson told Elijah. There was a moment of silence as Elijah considered his words.

"Unless... Get everyone out of here! Now!" Hope's head snapped up a split second before various explosions tore up the encampment even more. She found herself on the ground, yards away from where she had been. She was vaguely aware of stinging pain all over her body. She looked down at her legs. Pieces of wood and metal shrapnel had embedded themselves in her skin, blood soaking through her jeans. She had had to have been sitting pretty close to a bomb…

Someone was yelling in pain and it took her a minute to realize it was _her_. Elijah leaned over her, working quickly to pull the shrapnel out of her legs so that the wounds could heal. He was saying something to her and she tried desperately to focus enough to listen.

"You're alright. You're alright." The way he said it wasn't exactly comforting. Another explosion went off right behind Elijah and he dove over Hope to protect her. Hope couldn't hear anything but the ringing that was so loud she wanted to scream. _How many explosions can I be next to before my ears just don't heal_? She wondered.

Her wounds on her legs healed and the pain subsided enough that she could focus again. She looked at Elijah, who was staring down at her.

"I'm… okay…" She managed to choke out, which didn't make it very believable. Someone was shouting for help. _Oliver_ , she realized.

"Go, help him." She managed to tell Elijah. He looked down at her again, but then left. Hope rolled herself over onto her stomach, raising her head enough to look around. The first bomb was bad, but this attack was… horrific. That was the only word she could think of to describe it.

She put her head down on her arms again, closing her eyes and trying to block out the images she knew were now burned into her mind. Despite herself, the only thing she could think was: _this wouldn't have happened at the compound_. Whether she was in the Bayou or not, it would have happened. But she wouldn't have seen it if she'd stayed in the compound. The images in her mind were telling her that she was never going to forget what happened and, if she hadn't been there in the first place, she would have felt so much better.

She must've passed out, because when she heard Jackson talking to her, she only caught the last half of his sentence.

"-up. You're alright, come on." The sun was lower in the sky, the long day finally coming towards a close, hopefully. Hope took Jackson's arm and he hauled her to her feet, catching her as she swayed and almost fell over. Elijah hurried over to them. His suit was tattered, bloody and generally he just looked like a mess. Hope was sure she looked even worse.

"Is this the peace you promised?" Jackson demanded.

"I gather my brother believes he can remove your curse."

"Klaus was offering us freedom, not just from the pain that comes with turning, but from the contempt we've faced our whole lives."

"And what about Hayley, Hope?"

"I want to make this place right for them. _Safe_ , for them." Jackson insisted. He looked over at Hope.

"It's not safe here. She needs to go back to the Compound."

"I can-." Hope started, but realized she really didn't _want_ to stay there. Elijah nodded in agreement. Hayley came running up to them.

"You stayed." She breathed in relief. Hope became aware of someone else talking and looked around, spotting Oliver in a crowd of werewolves.

"Come morning, they will know that we are not cowards."

"What's going on? How long was I out?"

"We are not afraid!"

"He's making a move for power in the wake of tragedy. He's not alone. There was another attack after you left, Hayley." Elijah explained.

"What?"

"Look, I know where I'm going. If any of you want to follow, hey, that's up to you. That's up to you!" Oliver was riling up the werewolves easily. Elijah took Hope by the arm.

"Come with me, we're getting you back home." For once, Hayley didn't protest either as she and Jackson ran to try and break up the rally. Elijah took Hope and sped back to the compound. The whiplash didn't help her headache, but she was relieved when she looked up and saw she was back in the compound courtyard.

"What happened?" Hope was used to Klaus asking that question; it didn't mean she was in any mood to answer it.

"There was an attack on the Bayou. Several bombs were planted to kill the werewolves." Elijah explained bitterly. Klaus walked over and took Hope's face in his hands, examining her.

"You're fine." He decided.

"Gee, thanks."

"She stays here. No more Bayou." Klaus added, talking to Elijah.

"The werewolves are convinced it was the vampires that did this." Elijah told him.

"Well, well, are the dogs preparing for war?" Klaus seemed oddly pleased with that.

"If anything had happened to Hayley or to Hope-."

"I'm not behind this, Elijah and I doubt it's Marcel's style… So the question remains… Who did kill try to slaughter the werewolves?"


	25. Dead Man's Party

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

The citizens of the French Quarter sat at Father Kieran's funeral service. Klaus made his way to the casket, opening it to pay his respects. Instead, it wasn't Father Kieran at all… It was Hope, dressed in a white dress, pale… _dead_. Klaus looked at her, shocked.

"No, no…" Pain stabbed through his heart and blood poured out of his mouth. He looked down at the white oak stake protruding from his chest. Klaus managed to turn around and Mikael was there, grinning.

"Greetings, boy."

Klaus woke up in his bedroom, gasping for breath. He sat up, looking around and trying to convince himself it was just a dream. Listening intently for anyone sign of danger, he heard Hope moaning softly in her bedroom. He got up, hurrying down the hallway and opening her door.

Hope was fine, as fine as one could be while obviously having a nightmare. She rolled around on her bed, mumbling and moaning under her breath. Klaus sighed and went over, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. She jerked away, swinging at him immediately. He dodged the blow and she looked at him, gasping.

"Sorry." She mumbled, swallowing hard and sitting up in bed. Klaus said nothing, instead, seeing as she was awake and out of her nightmare, walked out of the room. She watched him go and then groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow, willing herself to think happy thoughts and knowing it was impossible all the same.

* * *

Everyone had gathered for Kieran's funeral. Hope hadn't known the priest, but she went anyway, partly for Cami, partly because she didn't want to stay home alone when bombs were so popular that week. Klaus and Elijah sat at a table in the bar while Hope did the usual 'sorry for your loss' to Cami, knowing it was lame and unhelpful. After that, she went to sit with them.

"Seems rather uncivilized to laugh and dance around the body of a loved one."

"Yes, far better to practice your process of grief, Niklaus: denial, rage, and hoarding coffins in basements." Elijah agreed sarcastically. Hope slipped into the booth beside Elijah and he glanced at her. "I will warn you, Hope, Niklaus is in a _spectacularly_ foul mood today."

"Sod off." Klaus snapped at him and Hope raised an eyebrow. "If you're quite done with your sarcasm and snide remarks, I'm gonna finish this bottle and the next, in the hopes of drowning the demon who has chosen today to haunt me. Cheers, Mikael. Impeccable, _Freudian_ timing." He raised the bottle to the ceiling in a toast.

"Elaborate." Elijah told him suspiciously. "Have you dreamt of our father?"

"Go ahead, have a good laugh." Klaus invited.

"I can assure you there is no piece of this that I find even remotely amusing, Niklaus. Especially considering I've been dreaming of him, too."

"What?"

"Well, this is awkward." Hope muttered.

"What?" Klaus repeated, looking at her.

"I haven't been dreaming of your lunatic father, but Uncle Kol's being having some late night visits to tell me all about how the ghost world is imploding on itself, the witches still want to kill me and-." She put on a voice that was so much like Kol's it disturbed the men. "- _Darling, if you're going to be a witch, do it right!_ "

"If we're all seeing-." Elijah started. He stopped mid-thought when he noticed Genevieve enter the bar. She caught his eye and smiled at him. "Perhaps our elusive, unknown enemy is orchestrating a further attack?" He suggested in a quieter tone.

"Well, then. What better way to punctuate a day of peace than by killing someone?" Klaus looked at Genevieve, smiling and waving at her. Once her eyes were off them, Klaus and Elijah both looked at Hope.

"Stay here." Elijah ordered, but that mute was made mute when she had to move to let him out of the booth. She sat back down as they disappeared after Genevieve.

"Where are they off to?" Hayley asked, coming over.

"Why are you here?" It came out meaner than Hope meant, but Hayley didn't comment about it.

"The Bayou is finally settling down again and Kieran helped out the werewolves once. I wanted to pay my respects." She explained. She slid into the booth next to Hope.

"You okay?"

"Have you been dreaming of dead people too?"

"No…" Hayley told her slowly, suspicious.

"Then probably not."

* * *

Elijah and Hope stood on a balcony in the Compound, looking down at the courtyard below.

"Turn of the 19th century."

"Here."

"1970's."

"Daggered."

"Ooh, December 1995!"

"Daggered."

"This game gets less and less fun the later I go."

"Genevieve." Elijah turned as the witch approached them from behind. Hope turned as well and Genevieve sighed.

"I asked around. It's not just your father. The purgatory where supernatural souls are trapped is disintegrating."

"What do you mean, 'disintegrating'?"

"Does that count as the same as imploding on itself or was Kol being dramatic?" Hope asked.

"It is actually _imploding._ I made a call to a rather reluctant Bennett witch in Mystic Falls who said the same thing. The dead are being torn away into nothingness. And, they're not interested in going quietly." Klaus announced, walking over to the three of them.

"So, you're saying that our father, faced with permanent extinction, has decided to spend his remaining tormenting us? How delightful!"

"Well, on the plus side, we'll soon be rid of his abhorrent soul forever. And what a good riddance that will be!"

"So, am I in the clear, Elijah? Or is there a new conspiracy you two would like to threaten me over?"

"Nothing springs to mind at this precise moment..."

"Oh, gee. Thanks." She turned to Klaus. "I have to get back to the girls. Perhaps tomorrow, after the funeral, you and I could spend some time together. Alone?"

"Gag." Hope put in.

"I suppose we'll have to see." Klaus told her quietly. She walked away.

"Please tell me you've designed a stronger method to control the witch than playing hard-to-get?" Elijah asked in annoyance.

"Well, I've always been partial to the classics..."

* * *

The funeral procession went down the street to the sounds of jazz music. Klaus, Hayley, Elijah and Hope walked towards the back of the line. No one was oblivious to the fact that Hope looked flushed and had coughing fits.

"You alright? You look-." Elijah started.

"Too tall? Out of place? Pissed off at the world?"

"I was going to say you look flushed." He corrected. Hayley was staring at Francesca, the leader of the human faction, ahead of them.

"Do you think I was the target of those bombings?" She asked.

"Of course you were the target! Were _I_ to wage a war on the wolves, you'd be my first kill! I would string you and your daughter up, for all your worshipers to see." Klaus explained.

"Thanks." She told him sarcastically. Hope coughed into her hand again and the other three turned to look at her. Immediately, she looked annoyed.

"I'm fine. Mortals tend to get coughs, you know."

"You're hardly mortal." Klaus pointed out.

"I age and I can die. That kind of the definition of mortal." She coughed into the crook of her elbow. "Excuse me." She brushed past Elijah to stand on the side of the street. She was starting to feel woozy. She'd done felt that before; when she didn't eat enough she had low blood pressure problems that made her dizzy. But this felt different somehow. She coughed again and blood splattered onto her hand.

She stared at it, horrified. She started coughing even more, blood dribbling out of her mouth each time. With one last cough, she collapsed on the sidewalk.

"Klaus!" Genevieve yelled. Klaus, Elijah and Hayley all turned at the yell and saw Genevieve pointed at Hope.

"Hope!" Hayley got there first, frantically shaking her daughter. Elijah and Klaus kneeled down beside her, ignoring Genevieve coming up behind them. "Hope, wake up, baby girl." Hayley pleaded.

"Let's her inside." Elijah put in. They were close to the Compound already; Klaus picked her up and they hurried inside. Klaus set Hope down on the nearest table as Hayley and Elijah crowded around in a panic.

"I can help-." Genevieve started. Elijah immediately stopped her from coming near Hope.

"Don't you touch her!"

"Let it be, Elijah. She was a nurse." Klaus told him absentmindedly.

"There's a spell I can do. Klaus, get chamomile from the pantry." She looked back down at Hope. "She's trembling. Your jacket, Elijah." Elijah ripped off his suit jacket and laid it over Hope. Hayley was by Hope's head, brushing her hair out of the way.

"She's not breathing! Elijah, she's not breathing!"

* * *

Hope sat up on the table, looking around the darkened room. She was alone… not quite. She spotted a man walking towards her. The sight of him made her scramble off the table and put some distance between the two of them.

"Who are you?"

"I suppose I'm family."

"I don't know-." She stopped abruptly. His age, the way he carried himself, the bitter tone of voice… "Mikael." He smiled at her, still walking towards her.

"I assume my reputation precedes me."

"This is a nightmare. I'm dreaming." But she'd never seen his face before, which meant this was real, as much as she didn't want it to be.

"On the contrary, my darling, this is very real." She didn't like being called darling, at least not by him. Kol, in her weird Other-Side dreams? Fine. Rebekah? It's nice. Mikael? Not a chance. He sped over to Hope and got her in a headlock from behind.

"Welcome to my Hell: stuck in an eternity of watching over that hideous creature my children call brother! As if your bloodline wasn't filth enough, it was poisoned by merging it with Klaus's. The deathless vermin, fancying himself a daddy?"

"You're dead! This may be real, but I'm still dreaming! You can't do anything to me!"

"Can you feel this?" He questioned, tightening his grip. She could. _This is real. This isn't a dream. I'm dead._ She screamed and, Other-Side or not, her emotions were powerful. Mikael flew against a wall and everyone around her shook like there was an earthquake. Hope took the opportunity to run out of the compound. She may be dead, but he wasn't going to catch her…

* * *

Genevieve pressed a damp bundle of herbs against Hope's forehead and started to chant a spell. Klaus, frustrated and scared, bit into his wrist and got the blood in Hope's mouth, trying to heal her.

"Come on!" He muttered.

"She's still not breathing. It's not working!" Hayley sobbed. Elijah threw a chair against the brick wall, shattering it into pieces. Hayley flinched, tears streaming down her face. Klaus swallowed hard, leaning over Hope and studying her for any signs of chance, any sign of a returning heartbeat.

Finally, Elijah moved to pick up Hope.

"I'm taking her to a real doctor."

"If you move her from here, my spell will break. There won't be enough time to get her to a hospital."

"Your spell isn't doing anything!" Hayley snarled. Genevieve touched Hope's forehead.

"I know what to do. Get my bag, the _gris-gris_ pouch! Now!" Elijah sped off to do what she said. Hayley looked at Klaus, silently pleading with him.

"She's fine, she's fine…"

* * *

Hope sprinted through the streets, well aware that Mikael was walking calmly behind her, just waiting for her to tire out and slow down.

"You're dead, Mikael. Your son already beat you!" She yelled at him as she did finally slow, turning to watch him come towards her.

"He is _not my son_! He's a scourge, a walking symbol of weakness!"

"If he's weak, why are you the dead one?" She taunted, still briskly walking backwards. From an alleyway, someone grabbed her and she screamed as she was pulled towards the person.

"Shush, shush, stop." Kol told her, holding her from running away. She looked at him.

"Mikael-."

"I know, come on." He pushed her ahead of him and they ran down the alley onto the opposite street. Kol grabbed her arm to steer her to the right and they kept running. After a few minutes, he pulled her into another alleyway and she tried desperately to catch her breath.

"I'm dead. I'm dead." She sobbed.

"Oh, stop that." Kol told her, annoyed. When she didn't, he sighed. "You're not dead, Hope!" She looked at him, startled.

"What?"

"If you were dead, why is Mikael trying to kill you? You're not dead." He insisted.

"The Other Side is imploding and his last wish is to kill me?" Hope demanded, now more angry than upset. Kol didn't answer; he was looking up and down the alley, looking for signs of Mikael approaching.

"He's close, I can hear him." They edged further into the alley, Kol watching one way and Hope watching the other. Mikael came from their right and Hope held out her hand. He flew backwards onto the street. Kol looked at him and then back down at her.

"That's my girl. Come on." Kol tried to pull her away, but she just walked closer to Mikael. With another flick of her hand, he flew into the building across from the alley.

"You are as foolish at your father. He will ruin you, one way or another. Perhaps he already has."

"Are you done?" She asked. She flicked her hand again and his neck snapped. He collapsed on the street. "How long will that keep him down?" She called to Kol.

"I have no idea." Kol seemed impressed as he came up behind her. She tore her eyes away from Mikael to look at him.

"He'll come after you now, since you helped me-."

"What is he going to do, kill me? Besides, we'll all be sucked into oblivion sooner or later. We may not have much time before that witch does her spell to wake you up. Listen, little niece, you need to do me a favor."

* * *

She woke up gasping on the table. Hayley gasped in echo to hers, helping her sit up. She had blood on her face and neck, but she was sure she wasn't hurt. Elijah and Klaus hovered over her, Elijah holding her arm and Klaus rubbing her shoulder.

"You're alright, love. You're alright." Klaus told her.

"I saw him. He tried to kill me. I saw Mikael." They stared at her. Hope sucked in deep, panicked breaths. Hayley and Elijah moved to help her off the table, but Hope was already moving off the opposite side, into Klaus's arms. Surprised, he caught her and held her.

"You're alright, love." He repeated.

"Your dad sucks." He chuckled against her hair, nodding in agreement. Hayley looked at Elijah, letting out a breath of relief again, grabbing his arm. He looked towards Genevieve and nodded mutely to her. She echoed the nod and left the Compound without a word.

* * *

Hope sat on her bed against the headboard, writing something down in a notebook. She heard footsteps approaching and slammed the notebook shut, moving to put distance between herself and the intruder. When she saw Klaus, she relaxed, sitting against the headboard again.

"You've proved quite resilient, Baby Wolf."

"You're just now realizing that?" She questioned, trying to smile smugly and failing.

"Where's your mother?"

"Bayou."

"You're not with her."

"Obviously not. I, uh… I'm not fond of living in the Bayou." She explained. She saw Klaus smile slightly, though she wasn't sure _exactly_ why he was happy. For all she knew, he might have a bet on who would win 'custody' of her. "Though, this family is starting to sound like a bad reality show." She added, playing with her pen.

"Uh, you said you saw my father?"

"Why do you call him that? He's not your real dad."

"He's done damage only a father could do." Klaus explained. Her lips twisted up into a sympathetic smile. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing true." She told him quickly. He smiled, relieved. He nodded to her and turned to leave. "Klaus!" He turned, concerned.

"Yes?"

"Thanks, for… not letting me die."

"Of course." He nodded to her again and left the room. Hope turned back to her notebook, looking at the spell she'd written out in front of her. The Other-Side's time was limited, which meant her window to make the spell work was too. She got off the bed and ventured into Klaus's study. She poked her head in, but Klaus wasn't there.

Relieved, she hurried in and opened the cabinets on the other side of the room. She grabbed the urn inside and shut the cabinets again, hurrying back to her bedroom. She set the urn on her desk and picked up her notebook again, staring at the spell.

"I'm the most powerful witch in New Orleans… time to prove it."


	26. Real Power

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope was going to have to put a lock on her door; she barely had time to hide the spell and the urn before Hayley barged in. Hope turned to look at her and saw her worried expression immediately.

"What's going on?"

"Jackson and Oliver should've been back hours ago. Tell me you've heard from them."

"No, I haven't." Grimacing, Hayley turned and ran out of the room again. Hope glanced at the spell and the urn and then hurried after her. By the time she found her mother again, she was standing behind Elijah while he talked on the phone with Klaus.

"It appears our wolves have gone astray, brother." Elijah was saying.

"They should have been back _hours_ ago." Hayley stressed.

"We need to find them." Hope didn't have vampire hearing, but she could clearly see that whatever Klaus had said had made Elijah and Hayley mad.

"And you didn't feel the need to share this information?" Elijah asked after a minute. There was another pause. "Do enlighten us." Whatever Klaus had set made Elijah sigh. "Marcel."

"No, he'll kill them!" Hayley cried. Elijah pulled his phone away from his ear; Klaus had hung up.

"I will be back." Elijah promised Hayley.

"I'm coming with you."

"Fine. Hope stay here." Elijah didn't have time to argue; he and Hayley hurried from the room. Hope stared after them for a minute, but then returned to her room. She picked up the spell.

"Alright, Kol. Let's see what I can do."

* * *

Hope couldn't do it. She just couldn't. She didn't know what she was doing wrong, but nothing was happening. She'd done exactly what Kol had told her. Nothing was happening. She couldn't do it. She let out a yell of frustration, throwing the nearest object, her laptop, at the wall. The laptop broke in half and she stared at it.

"Great."

"Hope?!" Hayley was back, evidently, and had heard her yell. Hope whirled, grabbed the comforter off her bed and threw it over the hastily made pentagram and ashes on the floor before turning around to face her mother as Hayley rushed into the room. Hayley looked around and saw what Hope had thrown.

"Temper much?" She chuckled. Then she turned serious again. "What's wrong?" Luckily, Hope had a lie ready, a lie that was technically a lie either.

"I'm tired of getting left behind when you guys run off! Is Jackson okay?" She asked.

"I'm okay, kid." Jackson was in the doorway, looking beaten up by alive. Hope let out a sigh of relief.

"What happened?"

"Marcel. Bombs. It was bad." Hayley explained, shaking her head. She looked at the comforter on the floor and stooped to pick it up. Hope grabbed her wrist to stop it.

"It's fine. I'll pick everything up."

"Alright. We have to find a way to get more stones for the moonlight rings." Hayley rubbed Hope's shoulder and left the room with Jackson in tow. Hope waited until they were gone before rushing forward and shutting the door behind them. She braced a chair underneath the doorknob to at the very least give her a warning to intruders and went back to her spell.

She kneeled on the ground, tossing her comforter back onto the bed, shaking off the ash that clung to it. _Come on, Hope, you would be able to do this for someone else. For your family_. Rebekah, who Klaus banished. Rebekah, was tortured by the witches and werewolves. Rebekah, who had done everything she could to defend Hope. Elijah, who got daggered by Klaus. Elijah, who ran into a burning building for her. Elijah, who had helped her through werewolf venom. Hayley, who had spent sixteen years missing her. Hayley, who had gotten turned into a hybrid because of her. Hayley, who was trying to give her a safe life. Klaus, who stayed up with her on nights she had been too upset to sleep. Klaus, who killed her foster-father because he'd hurt her. Klaus, who taught her to be the girl lesser man feared. This was for Kol, who had warned her about Rebekah. Kol, who had kept her safe from Mikael. Kol, who only wanted one favor in return.

Hope stared at the spell and, summoning every bit of emotion she had in her, started chanting. She grabbed a switchblade from her pocket and cut into her hand, letting the blood drip on the pentagram, still chanting underneath her breath.

She could _feel_ it working. The atmosphere of the room changed. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could tell that something was happening. She chanted the words she'd memorized over and over, her tone forceful and demanding, not taking no for an answer this time. Blood dripped out of her nose and she clenched her jaw shut for a minute to avoid crying out.

 _Magic hurt_. She hadn't known that, but now she knew what happened when a witch used too much magic. When a witch pushed themselves too far… _I live for pushing myself too far,_ she reminded herself and started chanting again, forcing herself to continue.

 _I am Hope Mikaelson. I am the most powerful witch in New Orleans._ _I can do this_. With that thought, she chanted one last time and then it was all over. It wasn't a peaceful ending; she fell back, exhausted, and her head hit the floor hard enough to cause her to groan in pain. She couldn't tell for certain, but it seemed like the blood gushing from the nose had stopped, finally.

She closed her eyes, wishing for some relief from the utter exhaustion that she felt. Some part of her mind registered that there was movement by her feet and she opened her eyes, but she was too weak to raise her head to see what was happening. She didn't have to; a face appeared above hers, grinning but worried at the same time.

"How are you feeling, darling?"

"Kol."

"Hello, darling."

"Hi." She said lamely. Kol chuckled and shook his head.

"You remember what I said about needing a lot of power? I meant you should channel something."

"I did it."

"That you did." Kol amended. She pushed herself into a sitting position and shook her head. Kol disappeared from her line of sight and returned a second later to hand her a tissue. She took it and started mopping up the blood from her face. Kol kneeled down beside her again. "I have never known a witch that could do a resurrection spell without channeling _something_."

"I like to be unique." She shrugged.

"Hope! Hope, I can smell blood, you need to open this door right now!" Hayley's frantic voice came from the other side of the door. She was trying to open the door, but the chair was blocking it. Unwilling to let her mother break down her door, Hope flicked her wrist. The chair clattered out of the way, hitting the bed. Hayley burst through the door and stopped dead.

"You… have a boy in here?" Hayley asked hesitantly, looking at Kol in confusion.

"Yes, mom, I snuck my boyfriend in here." Hope told her sarcastic. Evidently, she had put on the wrong tone, because Hayley seemed to take her seriously.

"Oh! I will leave you alone and-."

"Mom! He's my uncle."

"What?" Hayley demanded. She saw the pentagram on the floor, the page with the smell next to Hope, how weak her daughter was… It all seemed to click, somewhat at least. "Hope… What did you do?"

"Something sketchy, but I think it worked okay." Kol helped Hope to her feet and she almost fell over as soon as she was straight. Hayley rushed forward to grab her, but Kol was way ahead of her, helping her lie down on the bed.

"Who are you?" Hayley demanded, leaning over her daughter.

"Kol Mikaelson."

"You're… You're Klaus and Elijah's brother. Dead brother."

"Not anymore." He grinned, smugly. Hayley stared at him for a moment.

"Elijah, Klaus!" She called out. Kol smiled even wider, adjusting his jacket on his shoulders. He'd come back in the same clothes he'd had when he'd died, without the burns, thankfully.

Elijah and Klaus sped into the room at Hayley's yell, their eyes immediately focusing on Hope, lying weakly on the bed next to Hayley.

"What happened to-?" Klaus stopped, his eyes finally going to Kol.

"Hello, brother. Don't tell me you've forgotten me already?"

"Hope, what did you do?" Klaus asked, his eyes never leaving Kol.

"I think that's very obvious." She returned. She sat up; she wasn't feeling as weak anymore and hoped that the recovery would be short.

"You resurrected our brother?" Elijah asked her, his voice low and void of emotion.

"You're welcome." She told him pointedly.

"And here I thought you lot would be happy to see me. Guess I should've known better. Now if you'd excuse me, I am in need of some blood." Kol brushed them and walked disappeared into the hallway, leaving them staring after him.

"Great brotherly relationship you've got there." Hope told them sarcastically. She leaned forward to examine the pentagram drawn on the floor. "You think that'll come out of the carpet?"

* * *

Later, Hope stumbled down the stairs. Kol had finally torn himself away from the blood storage and met her at the bottom step.

"How's the witch feeling?"

"Like she needs a thank-you, a highly caffeinated drink and a cupcake. Make that multiple cupcakes." Hope told him.

"Thank you." He amended. She made a face.

"That's not as good as a soda and cupcakes." He laughed.

"And here when the Other-Side learned of Klaus's hybrid daughter, I was expecting some sort of demon-spawn."

"And you got a girl with some real power instead. Don't say you're disappointed, because I know better." She smirked at him, leaning on the railing.

"Well, you let me know if Real Power needs a favor."

"Oooh, you do owe me." Hope agreed, smiling. She looked past him, up onto the balcony opposite of them. Genevieve, Klaus, Hayley and Elijah were all in the room and Hope could tell Genevieve was doing some sort of spell. Hope hurried back up the stairs, wanting to catch a glimpse of the infamous moonlight rings. She had barely hit the room before Francesca rushed in as well.

"My people say Marcel is on the move and he's bringing friends." She reported. Klaus growled under his breath.

"Get Hope to safety." He told Elijah before speeding away.

"Come with me." Elijah reached for Hope's arm but she deftly side-stepped out of his reach, bumping into Kol. Kol did nothing and suddenly she was glad to have someone who didn't always want to rush her to safety.

"No. Some needs to watch her and get the moonlight rings to the wolves."

"We'll stay here. No one's touching her." Hayley put in, arms crossed against her chest. The way Hayley looked at that moment, with an army coming and moonlight rings unfinished… Hope would've bet no one wanted to cross her.

"Go, Elijah. And don't hold back." Hope insisted. Elijah hesitated, then nodded and left. Hope looked over at Kol.

"I'm going." He told her, rolling his eyes and going after them. Hayley held out an arm and Hope obediently went to stand next to her.

* * *

"I thought this lot had learnt their lesson!" Klaus said as he faced the crowd surrounding him. Kol was grinning and Elijah just looked bored.

"Well, they're not exactly renowned for their genius."

"So, where's the ringleader of this circus? Too afraid to show his face?" Klaus called out.

"I'm here! And I'm gonna offer you one last chance to pack your stuff and get the hell out of my town." Marcel appeared on a balcony above them, looking down at Klaus.

"You'll allow your men to rush to their deaths? _Again?_ "

"Well, I know where this lot got their brains. Why don't we stop the talking and just kill them?" Kol asked, annoyed. Elijah held up a hand, motioning for him to retrain himself.

"Look around. Every vampire in the Quarter is coming out! They want their city back. No surrender this time. You're gonna have to kill us all."

"Okay! I think I'll start with _you._ " Klaus agreed, unfazed.

"Fine. Then, come get me." He sped away, disappearing in a blur.

"If you don't kill him, I will." Elijah threatened.

"He's mine. This won't take long." Klaus sped away after Marcel.

"Oh, but I thought he was family, Elijah? More family than I was for certain. What changed? The little brat finally got under your skin, did he?" Kol teased.

"Kol? Shut up." Elijah turned to the rest of the vampires and unbuttoned his jacket, holding his arms wide. "Gentleman. Shall we?"

* * *

Even without vampire hearing, Hope could tell the fight downstairs was bloody. She had her back pressed against the wall, eyes closed. She made another run for the door, but Hayley caught her arm again, hauling her back.

"Oh no you don't, baby girl. If three Original vampires can't handle the problem, it's best you just stay out of it."

"I resurrected one of those three Original vampires-."

"Yes, you've got power. That doesn't mean you're immune to getting your heart ripped out of your chest." Hayley reminded her.

One of the security guards hurried into the room but Francesca just held up a hand.

"Not yet."

"Ms. Correa, we need to go. Your brothers are already headed out the back." Just then, Genevieve stopped chanting and picked up one of the stones to examine it.

"The stones are finished. I've done my part. Now, it's up to you."

"We'll get them to the Bayou." Hayley rushed forward to grab the stones. Francesca beat her to Genevieve and held out her hand.

"Actually, she was talking to me."

"What is happening?" Hope asked, edging forward. Genevieve put the stone in Francesca's hand.

"Call it a side deal. The point is, I'm taking the stones."

"Are you out of your mind? You think the humans can go up against Klaus? Against _us_?" Hayley growled.

"No, I don't. But, I'm not human." She pulled out a knife and slit the throat of her bodyguard. As the bodyguard died, she doubled over in pain. Soon, she straightened up, with gold eyes and fangs. "I'm like you, Hayley. And now, I'm gonna take back my town!"

Hayley lunged for Francesca but Genevieve flicked her wrist and Hayley's neck snapped. Before Hope could do anything, Genevieve muttered another spell and she collapsed. Genevieve looked over the two girls, nervous and slightly guilty. Francesca sighed.

"Don't look so dour, Genevieve. We both got what we wanted."

* * *

Hope had woken up in many different situations. But even she had to admit that waking up while being dragged down the street but two warlocks was new to her. With a little concentration, both warlocks dropped to the ground, screaming in pain, and Hope was free. Genevieve and the two harvest girls turned around.

"You really think you can take all of us? You may be powerful, but we have the help of the ancestors! We will offer you up to those who came before us and we shall have even more power!"

"You don't just want to kill me…"

"We're going to sacrifice you to the ancestors." Hope's mind was racing. She couldn't kill without triggering her curse, on a full moon no less. Even if she found somewhere to lay low, they would always be coming after her. They were going to take her and sacrifice her… Unless she wasn't what they wanted.

They wanted a witch, a very _humanoid_ witch. They couldn't sacrifice a wolf. She flicked her wrists and the necks of the two warlocks snapped. She felt the pain immediately and had to drop onto her hands and knees; standing up wasn't even an option as she screamed in pain, her bones snapping and reforming.

"No!" Monique was absolutely outraged, which made Hope feel slightly better before she let loose another scream of agony. Genevieve started chanting, motioning for the other girls to help her. Once they'd finished, Hope realized something was different. She was still in pain, but it was coming on slower.

Genevieve leaned over her.

"That spell will slow the transformation. By the time you're ready to transform into a wolf, the full moon will have passed. You'll spend a night in agony and then we'll offer you to the ancestors and you'll be free of this." Genevieve told her in a soothing tone.

Hope let out another scream, louder, more emotional this time. The windows of the shops around them exploded. Car crumpled in on themselves and caught fire. Genevieve, Monique and Abigail were thrown yards away, landing hard, but getting up, angrier than ever.

As her scream ended, Hope swore she heard Klaus screaming in response.


	27. Sacrifice

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hayley woke up on the floor, her neck still burning with pain, but she had other concerns.

"Hope? Hope!" She scrambled to her feet, looking around. She heard someone stumbling towards the room and ran out to see who it was. Kol and Elijah were battered and bloody, more than a few bite marks on them. Hayley rushed over to them.

"Where's Hope?"

"What do you mean?"

"I woke up and she was gone. Genevieve must've taken her." Hayley realized. She paled at the thought.

"Those bloody witches are going to sacrifice her." They both looked at Kol.

"What?"

"They want to sacrifice her to the ancestors in order to get more power." He explained.

"And this wasn't worth mentioning before?" Hayley shouted, rushing at him. Elijah, weak but determined, managed to hold her back.

"Sorry, love, but I've been back from the dead for six hours. Three of those hours were spent with my neck snapped on the floor and now I'm suffering from more than a few werewolves bites. Those idiotic witches with a plan to capture one of the most powerful creatures on the planet wasn't exactly at the top of my list of things to tell my ungrateful family!" He yelled right back.

"Kol!" Elijah scolded. Kol glared at him, but said nothing more. Elijah turned to Hayley. "We will find Hope, I promise you."

"They're going to kill her." Hayley was starting to tear up at the thought of losing her daughter. Elijah shook his head, determined.

"No, they are not."

* * *

"He's over here!" Hayley shouted out from the streets. Finding Klaus was step one in getting Hope back; he needed to cure Kol and Elijah of their werewolves bites and then he needed to help them slaughter the witches that had taken her in the first place.

Kol and Elijah hurried over. Klaus was gasping for breath, lying on the streets. Hayley grabbed his jacket and roughly pulled him up into a sitting position.

"What's wrong with you?"

"The stones… They keep a werewolf from turning by taking _my_ power." Klaus snarled.

"How could this have happened?" Elijah asked quietly.

"I was bested."

" _Bested_? You were just slapped around like a little-."

"Not that I don't love how this conversation is going but shouldn't we be focusing on the fact that Hope is about to sacrificed to ancient dead witches?" Kol demanded.

"I heard her screaming." Klaus whispered.

"Where? You didn't go after her? How long ago?" Hayley demanded.

"I was a bit preoccupied with trying to stay conscious, thank you very much, Hayley!" Klaus snarled at her. She shot him a look that should've killed him right then and there. Klaus bit into his wrist and offered it to Elijah. "You've been bitten, here." Elijah drank his blood and then Kol. Their bites healed and they both sighed in relief.

Klaus turned to Hayley as he got to his feet, breathless for ready.

"Now, let's go get our daughter back."

* * *

Hope thought she knew pain. She thought she knew _agony_. She didn't have a clue. She had no sense of time. No sense of where she was. When the pain finally ended, she was crying in relief. It was a few minutes before she could even raise her head to look around.

She was in a tomb in the cemetery. She was chained up with shackles, bolted to the wall. She was about to be sacrificed. Hope started fighting the chains.

"It's not going to work." Monique told her from the corner. Hope looked at her. "Those are magical shackles, you see. You can't do any magic while those are on you. Courtesy of your uncle Kol. He was quite ingenious way back when. Created lots of magical items, including those."

Genevieve came into the tomb, wearing a white dress. Hope wondered how long it would be before that dress was stained red. She lunged at Genevieve, but the shackles stopped her, biting into her wrists so hard that blood started dripping from them. Genevieve calmly looked up at the sky-light.

"The moon has almost faded from the morning sky. I have to prepare." She walked out of the tomb again and Monique smiled cruelly at Hope.

* * *

"The tombs are empty. The grounds are deserted. She's _NOT HERE_!" Hayley screamed.

"This is the only place they _can_ be! We'll keep searching." Klaus told her.

"They are _NOT HERE_ , Niklaus! We're wasting time!" Elijah yelled at him.

"The Harvest was here! The Reaping was here! They're about to perform a ritual which will feed their ancestors for centuries! Ancestors who are buried _HERE_!" Klaus stopped shouting and looked up at an angel statue on top of one of the tombs. "This statue… We've passed by this three times, all whilst going in the same direction."

"They've fabricated some kind of illusion." Kol mused. Klaus vamp-sped up to the top of the tomb with the angel stature and looked around. He stared at the seemingly infinite number of the tombs.

"That's one word for it." He came back down to join the other three. "It's ingenious. I can see them, I can feel them, and yet they are not real."

"There has to be a way. Even if we could just push through-." Elijah ran through his hand through his hair, distraught. Hayley seemed to collapse in on herself, kneeling on the ground.

"They're going to kill her. They're going to kill her…"

"What we need to do is _focus._ " Klaus told them.

"My only focus right now is that child and her safety, do you understand me?" Elijah shouted at him. Klaus stared at him, shocked at his outburst. "This… all of this… this is the world that _you_ created, Niklaus."

"Brother-."

"All of your scheming, the enemies that you have made every single day of your _miserable life_ … What results did you expect? That your child would be safe? That we could live and thrive as some… as some sort of _family_?"

"That was _your_ fantasy, brother, not mine!"

"NO, brother! This was our _hope._ This was _our family's hope._ "

"Hope was mine! She was my responsibility! You think I don't care? That I am some heartless monster? Perhaps I am. But she was… she _is_ mine and I will find her!"

"Where's your brother?" Hayley questioned. They all glanced around for Kol, but he was gone.

"Kol? Kol!"

"Stop with all the shouting." Kol complained, coming of a nearby tomb. He held up a rag with blood on it.

"Is that Hope's-?" Hayley started.

"This is what is going to get us what we need to find her."

"None of us is a witch." Hayley protested.

"Ah, but I'm excellent at loopholes, darling. Come along." He led them quickly through the maze of tombs, stopping at one in particular.

"This is back the way we came! This isn't helping!" Hayley told him. He ignored her, wringing out some blood from the rag onto the lock of the tomb. It snapped off and he was able to push it open.

"I used a witch's blood to seal this. Hope's blood is more potent."

"What's inside that can help us?" Elijah asked as they peered into the dark tomb. Kol sped inside and returned a second later with a compass. He managed to get another drop or so off blood off the rag onto the compass and the needle started whirling immediately. He threw it to Klaus.

"Now we can find her, illusion or not. You're welcome."

* * *

If Hope had to hear one more minute of chanting she couldn't understand, she was going to welcome death. She was still chained up with the anti-magic shackles. Every part of her still hurt from the previous night. Her head drooped, trying to find a single second of peace that just wasn't coming to her.

Suddenly, the witches were grabbing her hands, throwing her onto the altar. A knife was above her, Genevieve looking down at her. Monique and Abigail held onto the chains to keep her arms down.

"NO!" Hayley's shout made all of them turn. An urn flew over Hope's head, connecting with Genevieve's hand and knocking her back. Monique and Abigail abandoned their job of holding Hope down and ran to magically throw the approaching vampires back. Hope rolled off the altar, landing hard.

"You fools! To come against us in our place of power in our strongest hour? You don't face three, you face us all!" Monique shouted.

Hope grabbed at the knife that Genevieve was trying to get, but their hands just knocked it off the steps. Genevieve held out her hand and pain erupted in Hope's head. She screamed; more pain was something she just couldn't take at that moment. Genevieve scrambled away, grabbing the knife.

Then Hayley was there, punching her as hard as she could. She ran for Hope and frantically tried to break the shackles off Hope's wrists. Hope looked around them, focusing on Abigail and Monique, itching to jump up and kill them. A wrought iron fence post flew past her field of vision and impaled Abigail, breaking her and Monique's connection with the ancestors.

Hayley stopped, yelling out in pain. The knife was tossed over Hope's head as Genevieve turned to face Kol. Kol had his hand in her chest before she could even think to utter a spell, ripping her heart out in one swift movement. Hope jumped up and turned to see where the knife went. It was hurtling towards her and she wrapped the chains around Monique's wrist, trying to stop her.

"No!" Hayley was trying to rush towards her, but Monique had a wall of fire separating them. Quickly, Monique transferred the knife to her other hand.

Hayley, Elijah, Klaus and Kol could only watch the next second as several things happened at once. Monique swung the knife. A throwing star embedded itself in Monique's stomach and her body became covered in cuts. The fire died off immediately. Hayley screamed when she saw Hope. Monique had slit Hope's throat open.


	28. I Love You, Goodbye

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope fell towards the altar, but someone caught her before she could hit it. Marcel swept her up into his arms and then vamp-sped away. Hayley was screaming still, tears running down her face. Klaus didn't hesitate to run after Marcel, his expression unreadable. Elijah was breathing heavily, staring at where Hope had been. Kol clenched his jaw, angry.

"Where would that little runt take her body?" He finally asked after they'd all stood there in shock for a moment.

"The Compound." Kol and Hayley started to move to run back, but Elijah gestured for them to wait. "We need to know exactly what is going on." Abigail was still alive, the iron rod embedded deep in her stomach. The three of them looked at each other and then moved to interrogate the witch.

* * *

Klaus sped into the compound, looking around at the carnage that surrounded them. Marcel was sitting, leaning against fountain, which had more blood than water in it at that point. Hope's body was lying there, her head against Marcel's knee. Marcel looked at Klaus as he came in.

"I was too late. There should have been more time."

"Looks like the wolves came back and finished what they started." Klaus told him absentmindedly. He went and kneeled down next to Hope. He reached out to touch her, then pulled his hands away.

Everything about the body said that this was Hope Mikaelson. Her hair, messy and hanging in loose curls down her back. Her plain black tank top and denim shorts that showed off too much leg. Her ankle boots, perfect for trudging through the swamp or kicking someone in the teeth. But he didn't want to believe it. She was white as a sheet, looking frail and far, far too young. The blood from her slit throat had soaked her tank top thoroughly.

Klaus tore his eyes away from her, his eyes settling on Marcel's bites. He held out his wrist for Marcel to bite. But Marcel just pulled away from him.

"This bite, all this..." He glanced at Diego's body. "I know it didn't come from nowhere. This is the last note in a song that I started a century ago when I brought your dad to town. And for that, I am sorry."

"I have treated you like a son, Marcel. I cannot lose another member of my family tonight." He held out his wrist again and Marcel finally bit into it and drank his blood. "We will take down whoever brought this upon us, I swear it."

"They didn't get her blood on the altar, that was the point." Marcel told him. Klaus stared at him, not getting his point. "She might still wake up. I took the shackles off her. She might wake up." He explained. Klaus looked down at Hope, wondering if he ever should even begin to hope that whatever the witches had done wasn't permanent.

"May I?" Marcel nodded, moving. Klaus took his place, holding Hope on his lap instead. Marcel sat on the edge of the fountain, head in his hands. There was a minute of silence, Klaus staring down at his daughter and Marcel looking completely distraught.

With a gasp, Hope woke up, frantic and thrashing around. Klaus wrapped his arms around her immediately, trying to contain her.

"Shush, shush, you're alright, love." He promised. She grabbed at her throat, but the wound had healed.

"Hope!" Hayley, Elijah and Kol had come into the Compound. Hayley ran over to Hope, who was still panicking despite Klaus's attempts to calm her. "You're fine, baby girl." Hayley promised, smoothing down Hope's hair, trying to calm her down as well.

"You're in transition." Klaus told her. Hope fell back against his chest, tears running down her face.

"I died."

"You're alright." He held her closer.

* * *

"Abigail said that the witch who told them to do all this for the ancestors was Esther. Our mother." Elijah snarled. He, Klaus and Kol were standing outside Hope's room. Hayley was sitting with her, an empty blood bag between them. Hope was a full hybrid. She was a witch, she was a wolf and she was a vampire. If Klaus wasn't so upset, he would have been proud at her newfound powers.

"We should have felt our mother's hand in this. We should have known she would not be bound by anything as obvious as death. And now she has control of the witches. They will never stop."

"No."

"Nor would I expect the Guerrera wolves to back down. Hayley and Hope are wolf royalty, and as such, they are a threat to Francesca's claim to the leadership. They will never be safe." Klaus paused for a second. "What was it you said to me earlier? That I have made enemies every day of my miserable life? Well, the worst of them are within these borders, brother. And I have shown them the one weapon they can use against me." He glanced into the room at Hope, who had her face buried in her hands, a new daylight ring on her finger, looking completely miserable.

"Then we will arm ourselves! We're immortals, why shouldn't we show our enemies what we can do?" Kol demanded. Elijah and Klaus glanced at him.

"Brother, we have fought every adversary in this town, and we have won. And we'll fight them again, no matter who they are! We will make this home a fortress." Elijah agreed, getting excited.

"I will not have her live her life as a prisoner." Klaus told him quietly.

"Then we leave here, together. All of us." Elijah glanced at his brothers, then into the bedroom where Hayley and Hope were.

"Wherever we go, however far we run, those who seek power and revenge will hunt us! They will hunt _her._ She has inherited all of our enemies, none of whom she deserves."

"So, whether we stay, or we leave, we condemn her."

"We need another option." Hayley came to the doorway and they all turned to look at her. "I grew up in a war zone. My parents thought they could protect me. But, in the end, they were slaughtered, and I spent my childhood alone and unloved. Hope may not be a child, not anymore, but she does not deserve this. She just _died_ because of us, because we thought we could protect her from a threat we didn't even understand!" Hayley took a deep breath, lowered her voice and tried to calm herself as she continued: "I think the only thing to do is... send her away... while we stay behind and clean up the mess that we've made."

"No! This is insane. You heard the witches: so long as she lives, that baby will be hunted."

"I'm not living anymore." Hope came to the doorway too, eyes staring at the floor instead of up at them. "I'm dead. The witches don't know that I'm still alive. Let's keep it that way."

"Are you suggesting…?" Elijah started.

"Make everyone believe that Hope is dead. Clean up this mess and we can bring her back." Hayley explained, looking over at her daughter, trying not to cry.

"Who can protect her better than us?" Kol demanded.

"You, for one." Hope told him. He looked at her.

"No one knows you came back from the other side. Anyone who saw you is now dead, in this room or Marcel." She pointed out.

"For second?" Elijah pressed. Klaus smiled weakly.

"It always does go back to your aunt with you, doesn't it?"

"I'll have two Originals with me. You, mom and Elijah can do what you can here."

"Fine. But hurry this up, brothers; I'm not fond of babysitting." Kol told them, rolling his eyes. Hope shot him a half-hearted death look but smiled and he smiled back.

"Call Rebekah. We have to get Hope out of the city, tonight." Hayley told them, her voice turning from tearful to emotionless. Elijah hurried away while Hayley steered Hope back into the room to pack. Kol hurried off to who-knew-where, while Klaus stood on the balcony to watch Hope and Hayley, wishing that there was a fourth option…

* * *

Cami walked down the street and spotted the crowd of people at the Memorial Wall. Gang violence. That was what they were calling the supernatural battle of New Orleans that taken place. Cami couldn't stop her eyes from scanning the wall. She stopped in her tracks when she saw a familiar name, inching closer in order to make sure she'd seen and read it right.

 _In Memoriam: Hope Mikaelson_

There was a picture of Hope, a recent one. Cami could see they'd cropped Rebekah out in order to get Hope alone. Cami put her hand over her mouth, gasping in horror. Then she was running, heading for the Compound. She didn't stop until she found Klaus, standing on the balcony in his study.

"Klaus? Hope?"

"She died. A few hours after the Guerrera attack. Bloody witches won after all." He murmured. Cami gasped, covering her mouth again, bursting into tears.

"This is…This is all my fault!"

"I can assure you it is not."

"No! If I hadn't hesitated, I could have uncovered Francesca's plot in time to stop it!"

"And how would you have stopped the coven of witches in league with her? No. If anyone is to blame, I am."

"I am so, so sorry." Klaus finally turned to face her and she saw that he was actually tearing up himself.

"Camille. I appreciate you being here, but we cannot be friends."

"What?"

"You had me pegged from the start. A man, damaged by his demons. And those demons are not dormant. They're hell-bent on killing me, and everything I find beautiful. And you? You _are_ beautiful. Please. Please, just go."

"Klaus-."

"Go." Crying, Cami turned and ran away. Hope was just around the corner in Klaus's bedroom. She slid down the wall, clamping a hand over her mouth to stop any sound from coming out. She'd heard Klaus's voice. She'd heard the pain. She'd heard Cami crying. She'd heard, she'd _felt_ , everything. And she knew it was all because of her.

* * *

Klaus sat on the hood of his car, waiting. Kol was leaning against the door, flipping through one of the grimoire's he salvaged from his tomb. He was intent on teaching Hope some 'real' magic. Hope sat on the side of the road, playing with a loose thread of her ripped jeans.

Finally, a car pulled up and they all straightened up. Rebekah sped over to Kol, hugging him tightly.

"Kol! Brother, is it possible for you to stay dead?" She asked, pulling away to look at him.

"This handsome face? The world would suffer without something beautiful to look at." Rebekah rolled her eyes, then turned serious as she turned to Hope. Hope hugged her and Rebekah wrapped her arms tightly around her niece.

"I'm so sorry, Hope."

"We knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Seventeen's a good age to be."

"Oh, Hope." Rebekah gave her one last squeeze and pulled away to look at Klaus.

"Hope, you'll have to cast a cloaking spell." He instructed.

"I'll do it."

"No one can ever find you."

"I know." Klaus hesitated, but then took her arm, pulling her away from Rebekah and Kol to talk to her. Wanting to give them privacy, Rebekah looked back at Kol and started talking to him. Once they were a suitable distance away, Klaus stopped, his hands still on her arms.

"This city would have seen you dead. But, I will have it your home. And every soul who wishes you harm will be struck down, just as sure as my blood runs in your veins. You _will_ return to me." He promised.

"Drama king." He chuckled and she smiled at him.

"Be safe, be happy."

"Doubtful on both fronts but I'll do my best." She promised. He pulled her closer to kiss her forehead. She started crying and he pulled her into a hug.

"You'll be safe; I'll make sure of it."

"I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you." She sobbed. "I hate enhanced emotions." She added, as if to explain her sobs.

"You'll be alright." He promised.

"Please let me come home, daddy." Klaus's breath hitched in his throat. She called Hayley 'mom' all the time but it had always been just 'Klaus' for him. He hugged her closer, his arms tight enough he was half certain that he was hurting her. Looking over her head, he saw Kol and Rebekah. Kol was looking away and Rebekah was crying as she watched them, all privacy out the window.

Finally, Klaus sighed and pulled away.

"You need to go now." He reminded her. She nodded, not saying anything. They slowly walked back to Rebekah and Kol. Klaus took something out of his pocket and handed it to Rebekah. It was the little toy knight that he'd given her over a thousand years ago.

"Despite our differences, Rebekah, there is no one I'd trust more with my daughter's life." Rebekah, smiling and crying at the same time, took the knight.

"And you don't trust me at all. You're just passing me off to someone else. I understand." Kol said dramatically, which pretty much ruined the moment. But Hope laughed at him, which made Rebekah and Klaus smile. Evidently, that was his goal, because he grinned over at his niece.

Rebekah wrapped her hand around the little toy knight, reached over to hug Klaus and then slowly went towards the car. Kol handed Hope her backpack as she passed him. Hope cast one last glance over her shoulder at Klaus as they went towards Rebekah's car. Klaus sat on the hood of the car again, looking more upset than Hope had ever seen him.

"Back seat, Kol." Rebekah ordered and Hope turned to look at him. Kol mumbled something vulgar under his breath and got into the backseat.

"You guys are going to be fine to live with." Hope told them, slipping into the front passenger seat.

"We're the most fun you'll ever have, darling." Kol informed her, leaning forward from the back. Rebekah looked at toy in her hand and handed it to Hope.

"Here. A brave knight to protect you." Hope smiled and took it, holding it as she watched New Orleans disappear in the review mirror.


	29. Hearts of Darkness

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

"Once upon a time, there was a majestic king who lived with his noble brother in a kingdom where music and art were celebrated. The king did not foresee having a child, but he lived in an enchanted land where all things were possible. In time, he was blessed with the discovery of a beautiful daughter, for whom he wished only peace. Still, the king had demons who pursued him. There was a ruthless beast who wanted to take the kingdom for her own. Armed with a pack of untamed creatures, she drove the other magical creatures from the land. And, there was a wicked sorceress with enchanted stones that weakened the king every full moon. Seeing the shadow his enemies cast upon his home, the king was driven to send his beloved princess away, convincing all who remained that she was forever lost. The king, in his sorrow, turned away from the world. The castle closed its doors, and the kingdom fell. Some say that the only light that shines in the castle illuminates the shadow of the once majestic king in the room which his daughter once resided. But, as the ruthless beasts took rule over the fallen king's realm, little did they know that the king, the queen and the king's brother would not rest until their enemies were vanquished. For they believed that one day, they would heal their kingdom and bring their precious princess home so that she might live _happily ever after_."

"That nice and all but not what I wanted."

"You are not watching _Terminator_ again!"

"But why not?" Hope was lounging on the couch, Rebekah in front of her. Kol was lying in the armchair, watching this all go down with amusement. Rebekah rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. Instantly, Kol was on the move, leaning over Hope to whisper to her.

"What do you say we have some fun?" Hope looked at him and grinned.

* * *

Elijah was packing up the things in Hope's room. She didn't have much, but what she did have, he was putting in boxes. Hayley rushed in and stopped in her tracks.

"What do you think you're doing, Elijah?"

"Welcome back. What is it, the third night this week?" He asked.

"I don't need a caretaker. Hybrids are invincible, right? What are you _doing_ , Elijah?"

"As we have discussed, our illusion needs to be flawless. Now, months have passed. It's the appropriate time."

"What's next on the 'appropriate' list? Klaus and I hold our heads up high and say we're ready to try again?" Hayley snarled at him.

"I understand this is difficult for you-."

"What's _difficult_ is knowing that Francesca Guerrera is still breathing after _she_ was the one who plotted with the witches to kill my daughter! That is the reason I left New Orleans the first time! To protect her. I find her again and we have to send her away!"

"You will have your vengeance, I promise you this."

"Well, until then, this is still Hope's room, and I'll tell you when it's _appropriate_ to clean it out." She informed him. Klaus came up behind them.

"What's with all the shouting?"

"He wants to clean out everything that's _Hope's_."

"I assure you that she has everything she could want with Rebekah and Kol. They are infamous for taking more than they need." Klaus pointed out.

"She still needs to come back to everything the way it was!"

"It's not going to be the way it was when she returns."

"Leave her stuff alone!" Hayley snarled at both of them, grabbing the box Elijah had and starting to unpack it again. Elijah and Klaus exchanged looks and left the room.

* * *

The club was full of dry-ice smoke. Neon lights danced around the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Music boomed louder than Hope thought possible; she knew her vampire-enhanced ears would still be ringing the next day. Still, she navigated her way through the crowd.

Leaving Kol to flirt with girls, she went to the bar and motioned the bartender over to her. He locked eyes with her and she started her compulsion.

"You're going to serve me whatever I want, on the house." She glanced around and saw some teenagers stumbling out into the alley. "Actually… I'm in the mood for another type of drink." She left the bar, casting a glance towards Kol, who was no longer paying attention to her.

In the alley, the teenagers had obviously had too much to drink; they were stumbling around and giggling at nothing. She did a quick head count. Six of them. Perfect. She darted ahead of them and compelled each and every one of them.

"Stay right here. Don't scream." She looked over them and motioned for one of the girls to come forward. She looked a bit like Francesca in the dim lighting…. Hope grabbed her and extended her fangs.

"Please, please, don't kill me." The girl whimpered, unable to scream. Hope rolled her eyes.

"Why not? Because you're an innocent girl that just wants to go home to her family?" She questioned. The girl nodded quickly. "So was I!" She snatched the girl closer and started feeding on her. She couldn't imagine what was going on in New Orleans; they had no contact whatsoever. She hoped that Francesca was dead, she hoped the witches were terrified and fleeing for their lives, she hoped they felt a fraction of the negative emotions she'd felt when she was in New Orleans… But she had no way of knowing that for sure. She dropped the body to the ground and licked her lips.

"Next?" She called, looking around. She motioned another one forward. And another. The fourth, the fifth, the last… She drained them all and let their bodies simply pile up in the alley. It wasn't enough. She needed _more_. When she was feeding, she felt _good_. She needed to feel better.

Unfortunately, that didn't appear to be happening that night. Kol ran out into the alley, quickly took in the scene and went over her, looking annoyed and concerned at the same time.

"You could at least be a bit more subtle about it."

"Yes, because I'm sure you were subtle when you used to have your fun." She agreed.

"I wasn't running from homicidal witches then, darling."

"No, you were running from Mikael. Wasn't that why you got daggered so many times? You drew too much attention?" She questioned. He didn't have an answer for that, but he was getting more frustrated and annoyed by the second. Hope wiped her mouth on her hand and whirled around. If her hair had been as long as it was in when she was in New Orleans, she would've smacked him in the face with it. Luckily, she'd decided to chop it off to a chin length bob instead. It made it her look older, which Kol had the feeling had been her goal when she'd done it with a pair of kitchen scissors with Rebekah yelling at her through the bathroom door. "Let the witches find me! Let the vampires and the ghosts find me! I can take them! But no, they just stay in New Orleans. I can't go back there because of them!" Hope was working herself up, a habit she'd gotten into the past few months. She started out having fun and it just went downhill from there.

"Hope, we need to go."

"Go where? Home? I don't have a home anymore. The witches took that too!" She was practically shouting now; Kol darted over to her and clamped hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"Do you want to be caught in an alley full of dead bodies?" He growled. She jerked away from him.

"Why not? What are they going to do to _immortals_?" She questioned.

"Now I know why Bekah doesn't take you out."

"Aunt Rebekah doesn't take me out because she's under the impression I can't handle myself anymore."

"Probably because you've gone a bit psychotic, darling." She shot him a look. He grabbed her arm and, before she could protest, sped back to their house. Rebekah was just about to go out, but she caught Hope as Kol practically threw her into the house.

"What happened? Where have you been?" She demanded.

"I thought we'd have a bit of fun. She thought she'd have a bit of a feast."

"Excuse me?" Rebekah looked between Kol and Hope, waiting for more of an explanation.

"If you keep feeding like that, we'll have to move. Again." Kol lectured, ignoring Rebekah.

"Since when do you care? You didn't want to come with me in the first place!" She started stomping up the stairs and Kol looked at Rebekah.

"How did we get put in charge of a hormonal teenager? I didn't ask for this." Sighing, Rebekah turned to look up the stairs after Hope.

"Hope! Get down here right now! We have to talk about this." The only response she got was the slamming of Hope's bedroom door.

"I don't think she's in a talkative mood."

"Oh, shut up, Kol!"

* * *

Klaus threw a paintbrush across the room, ignoring how loudly it clattered when it hit the wall, then the floor. Hayley walked in, arms folded tightly across her chest.

"And here I thought I was the only one that was taking this hard. Do you realize this is exactly how I felt when I got separated from her the first time? And yet you blamed me for _losing_ her."

"Are you quite done?" He snarled. She silently sat down on one of the couches and curled up.

"We both want her back; we don't have to be at each other's throats or just avoiding each other." She explained quietly. Klaus heaved a sigh and then collapsed onto the couch next to her.

"You know, over the years, I've had my share of friends, enemies, lovers, losses, and triumphs. With time, they all begin to run together. But the months I had with her…"

"Makes you wish you'd done so much better." Hayley whispered. He looked at her. "I should have done more. I spent so much time in the Bayou, with the pack that turned against me anyway. I thought that giving her space was best and maybe it was but… I just wish I had held onto her and never let her go."

"And here I was worrying more about my kingdom than her." The words Rebekah once told him ' _home is worthless without family_ ' had been ringing in his head for days; they'd never made so much sense to him.

"It hurt, saying goodbye to her. I thought it would be better than last time because I got to do that but it wasn't." Hayley was starting to cry. Klaus stared at his hands, silent for a moment.

"You should have seen her when it really sunk in, when she was about leave with Rebekah and Kol…"

"Did she cry?"

"Yes."

"She's hurting too, I know it. I can feel it. And I won't feel better until I get to hug her again, until I get to see her."

"And so you shall. But, in order to do that, we need to regain control of the city. Now, we worked separately to unite those wolves. We can work together to do it again. They don't need to be our enemies."

"After ambushing them, they're not going to want to be our friends, Klaus."

"You waged a just war on those who would harm your daughter, their own princess! Not only will they respect you, they will _answer_ to you!"

"Why would they do that now?"

"Because you're their queen." He told her simply, smiling.

"What about all our other enemies? The witches don't stop even after they're dead."

"We defeated my mother and her witches because we stood united. That is how we will face _all_ our enemies. As a family."

* * *

The morning sun just about blinded Hope when she opened her eyes. She moaned and snapped her fingers. The curtains closed themselves and blocked out the light. Smiling, she buried her face in her pillow, intent to go back to sleep. There was a thump and Hope raised her head.

It had definitely come from the other side of the window. Kicking her blankets away, Hope stood up and went over to pull aside the curtains. A bird, dazed but alive, was standing on her windowsill. She looked at it; no birds ever came that close to the house, not that she'd seen.

Another bird flew onto the windowsill. Hope turned to look at the window on the other side of the room. The curtains were open enough for her to see birds gathering there too, all the same type. She heard a yell from downstairs that belonged to Rebekah. She turned and sped down to see what was wrong. Rebekah stood in the kitchen, looking at the birds gathering on the windowsill of _that_ window.

"Did we just step into a Hitchcock movie?" Hope asked.

"Mother." Rebekah gasped. Hope looked at the birds.

"You must've taken after your father." Her humor was not appreciated.

"We have to go, right now. Kol!" Rebekah cried, hauling Hope away from the window. Kol was downstairs in an instant, annoyed but alert.

"I see them. Starlings. Mother's little pets."

"Come on." Rebekah, with an iron tight grip on Hope's wrist, led them to the door.

"How about clothes, shoes and an explanation first?" Hope demanded.

"We'll compel what we need and I'll explain once we're in the car." Rebekah peeked out the door, then opened it all the way and sped to the car. Looking at Kol for an explanation, Hope was disappointed. Hustled into the car and banished to the backseat, she was started to get really annoyed with her aunt and uncle.

"What do birds have to do with your dead mother?"

"She used to use Starlings to watch us." Rebekah explained, breathless as she started the car and backed out of the driveway.

"Creepy."

"Finally, someone normal in this family!" Kol was, as usual, more pleased with Hope than any of his siblings. Hope was sure he was going to be told to shut up again, but Rebekah said nothing as she steered the car away from the house, breaking several speed limits. Knowing any further explanations or plans were not going to be talked out of Rebekah, Hope leaned back against her seat in silence.


	30. Not the Girl

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Elijah joined Klaus in the wine cellar. Klaus was too distracted by his own problems to see how upset and anxious Elijah was. He started talking before Elijah could get out a word.

"It is worse than we thought." He broke the neck of a bottle of liquor and drunk a large gulp of it before continuing: "I met the witch, Cassie. I studied her… her presence, the way she carried herself, the fervor with which she voiced her hatred of our kind. I looked into that girl's eyes, and, I swear to you, Elijah, she's not just _guided_ by our mother. She _is_ our mother." Elijah started at him.

" _What_ is _happening_?"

"I'm going to _kill_ her. I will boil her bones and feed them to the _dogs_ , if that's what it takes." Klaus snarled.

"Niklaus-."

" _What?_ What could possibly be more important than the return of our mother?"

"Our father. I saw him standing there in the flesh as you do now. He was enslaved with some spell cast by Davina. _He_ holds the stake. If she chooses to release him..." Elijah trailed off, his point made.

"Well, then there's only one question we need to ask, isn't there? Which of our parents do we kill first?" They heard Hayley returning and they slowly went up into the courtyard of the Compound. She was leading in Crescent wolves, completely oblivious to Elijah and Klaus's presence.

"Take any of the rooms on the first floor."

"Are we running a kennel now?" Klaus asked.

"I'll handle them." She told him calmly.

"Our family is under siege. It is _not_ the time for guests."

"If they're not with us, they're with the witches. You asked me to step up. This is me stepping up." She explained. Klaus smiled.

"Well, it seems I'm a good influence on you after all. I don't see Oliver among them. Am I to assume you've finished him off?"

"We made a deal. He'll continue working for Cassie and report everything back to me."

"Well done!" Klaus amended. Elijah's phone rang and he looked down at the screen, pausing before he answered it.

"Who is it?" Hayley questioned.

"Rebekah." He answered the phone and put it to his ear as Klaus and Hayley hurried over, eager and anxious for news of their daughter. "Rebekah, what has happened?"

" _Not Rebekah. Second guess?_ "

* * *

"Not Rebekah. Second guess?" Hope asked as she tugged a shirt over her head in the dressing room of a store. Rebekah had compelled the store owner to give them whatever they wanted. Hope still had some morals, apparently, and had kept it cheap and simple.

" _Hope!_ " She heard not only Elijah's voice, but Hayley and Klaus's. She had to pull the phone away from her ear, flinching at the loud voices.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me. Let's use our inside voices, okay?" She tucked the phone between her shoulder and her cheek as she got her arms into the sleeves of the shirt.

" _What is going on?_ "

" _Are you alright_?"

" _Are you safe? Where's Rebekah_?"

"One at a time, people. We have a problem involving weird birds and your mother." She knew that probably wasn't the best explanation, but that was all she had at the moment. She left the dressing room, tossing her old pajamas onto a nearby chair carelessly.

" _Excuse me_?" Hayley's voice betrayed how confused she was.

"Hope, give me the phone." Rebekah stumbled out of the other dressing room, wearing a dress and shoes that didn't look suitable for running in. She took the phone before Hope could protest and started explaining the situation, pausing to listen to the people on the other end. Hope shot her a look; she had insisted that she be the one to call Elijah. She had wanted to hear his voice, to hear her parents' voices. Apparently her lack of details was enough for Rebekah to decide it was time to take over.

Hope grabbed a jacket off a nearby rack as she passed it, going to meet up with Kol at the front of the store. He was watching out the windows. Hope thought of a lot of sarcastic comments involving birds but decided against every one of them as she leaned against a shelf.

"Where are we going now?"

"Depends entirely on what Nik says…" She didn't miss the bitter tone in his voice; he didn't like being told what to do, to say the least.

"I'm sorry I dragged you along." She told him, half sincere and half curious to see what his response would be to that.

"I can't blame you. I'm in high demand." He told her, smirking. Then everything changed. "Get down!" Hope hit the deck and the windows imploded on themselves, sending shards of glass everywhere. Hope raised her head, bits of glass raining down from her hair, and looked at Kol.

"What the heck?"

"Witches." He reported. He raised his head to look out the window. "Run." He ordered. Hope scrambled to her feet and sped away, passing Rebekah as she went for Kol. Hope slipped out the back door of the store and sped around front, behind two of the witches. A second later, they were heartless and her hands were covered in blood. Kol and Rebekah sped around the other three. Sharp cracks later, they had their necks broken. Hope looked at her hands.

"Anyone have a tissue or something?"

* * *

Elijah stared at his phone long after the call with Rebekah and Hope had ended. Hayley was pacing, anxious and excited at the same time. Klaus was in full-on planning mode, trying to make sure everything was in order.

"You need to get your pack out of this place immediately. I won't have them here when Hope comes." Hayley looked up, surprised and angry.

"What? No! They're the ones that are going to protect Hope; they need to know she's alive before they can do that."

"You have in way earned their trust yet, Hayley. You gave them air-conditioned rooms for free; that's not the same thing." He shot back. Hayley sighed, crossing her arms.

"All I need to do is find Jack and we can lead this pack together. They'll listen to the two of us."

"Brilliant. Kick them out. You can begin your wild goose chase while I actually make sure our daughter is safe."

"Hey!" That was a sore spot and Klaus knew it. Hayley was immediately seething with anger, stomping towards him as if she had the intention to beat him death, which she very well might have had if Elijah had stepped in between them. "I want her to come to a safe home too! But you don't get decide on your own who is and isn't to be trusted!"

"I have had a thousand years worth of enemies. I know cowardice and betrayal much better than you, Little Wolf."

"I've had my fair share of it too. This is my pack, this is _Hope's_ pack. They will defend her! They stay."

"When Hope arrives, I do not want my first concern to be whether or not your litter mates will be rushing off to contact the witches-."

"We won't tell them right away." Hayley compromised. Klaus looked at her, waiting. She sighed again. "They probably won't be wandering around a vampire's liar much anyway. We can get her up to the level where our rooms are-."

"And have her be held prisoner there while your pack has the run of the-."

"You're going to hold her prisoner here anyway if you don't want anyone to know she's even still alive!" Hayley snarled. She had a point and the look on Klaus's face told confirmed that. "She'll be safe." Hayley added, calmer this time. Klaus considered this.

"You don't tell them about her until I say so." With that last command, Klaus stormed out of the room.

* * *

 _Hope ran through the maze of tombs, moving painfully slow. She rounded a corner and a knife slit across her throat. She stumbled back, bleeding badly but not dead. More witches surrounded her, banishing chains and knives. She was in agony. She was turning into a wolf, but not fast enough to escape. Her throat was the worst pain; she couldn't even scream._

 _"Hope. Hope…_ Hope!"

Hope jerked awake as Rebekah said her time again from the front seat, her hand instantly flying to her throat to check for blood. It was a dream. She was fine. She closed her eyes, swallowing hard and trying to force the memories of pain out of her head.

"We're almost here."

"Should I duck down or something?" She asked, sarcastic because she knew she was going to be practically held prisoner until they deemed it safe for her to be public knowledge.

"You're fine." Rebekah told her dryly, fed up with the sarcasm already. They'd all had a bad day and too little sleep the night before.

Hope took off her seatbelt and scrambled into the front seat. She settled between Kol and Rebekah on the bench seat. If Rebekah or Kol thought her sudden movement was unusual, neither of them said a word.

Hope was exhausted, even more so than before she'd fallen asleep. They were entering New Orleans, which should have sent a thrill of excitement through her. It didn't. She rested her head on Kol's shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut, like a child trying to avoid being seen. Rebekah took one hand off the steering wheel in order to take Hope's hand. Hope let her, but she kept her eyes shut and said nothing to either one of them.

She wasn't the girl they'd sent away. For the past couple of months, she'd been a wreck. She'd gotten a little bit better; she didn't wake up screaming from nightmares anymore. With any luck, Kol and Rebekah wouldn't say anything about how many nights she'd woken them up and they'd had to come and practically hold her down and tell her that it was over, that she wasn't in New Orleans anymore. But she still fed off humans. No snatch, eat, erase. Just killing. Letting them go didn't make her feel better. She had to imagine she was powerful enough. It was only hours later that the thought ' _I'm a monster_ ' entered her head and then she would sit in her room or somewhere outside and cry her eyes out. Kol teaching her magic had distracted her a little bit; it reminded her that she may have been a hybrid, but she was still a witch, that there was still a part of that naïve girl that had gone to New Orleans in this new version of her.

But she was still different… and not in a good way. _A wreck,_ she thought, _that describes me perfectly._ Not that the rest of her family was perfect by any means. Hayley was an excellent mother, but she still had a vampire bloodlust, no matter how much she denied it. Elijah may have been moral, but he was still tormented by demons of the past. Rebekah was the best aunt Hope could have asked for, but she could be a manipulative monster when she really wanted to be. Kol was charming as all get out and, at times, sweet to Hope. But he was still crazy, in his own special way. Klaus… Klaus was Klaus; it was as simple as that. He was always going to be damaged. Being damaged was a given in their family. Still, Hope was always told that she was better, more innocent, than them. Oh, how things had changed…

Esther was alive, in another witch's body. She was sending witch assassins after them. She was sending creepy birds after them. Mikael was alive. He was being controlled by Davina. Hope was going to have a talk with her best friend about that particular decision of hers. The enemies they thought were dead were back and even more dangerous than before. It wasn't a comforting thought. The only reason she was returning home was because it was too dangerous everywhere else, another uncomforting thought. She doubted she was going to be allowed out of the compound, or even around other people beyond her family.

Hope felt the car slowing down before Rebekah said a word.

"We're here."


	31. Prisoners Of War

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hayley paced in the courtyard, chewing on her thumbnail. It had been hours; she knew that Rebekah and Kol had taken Hope far away, but didn't think it would've taken them _this long_ to return. Her mind started going through worse case scenarios without her permission. She closed her eyes and took a breath. _Worrying isn't going to do a thing, stop it,_ Hayley ordered herself.

She heard a car park in the garage and she whirled, her mind debating her next move. She wanted to run and hug Hope and never let her go. But Hope was a vampire now. What was she like? Hayley found herself stressing about her own daughter's personality, rooted in place as she waited. Kol came into the courtyard first, his hair a mess and a bit of dried blood on his hands. Rebekah came in next, leading Hope by the hand.

Hayley couldn't help but stare at her. She'd cut her hair shorter, but that wasn't it. Vampire or not, she looked _older_. She also looked like she hadn't had any decent sleep since… ever, really. Hayley made a mental note to force her to get some rest if she had.

"Are you gonna hug me or what?" Hope asked, smiling, though it looked a bit forced. Hayley couldn't blame her, given the circumstances of her return. Hayley sped forward and pulled Hope into a hug. Rebekah let go of Hope's hand so that Hope could wrap her hands around her mother. Hayley closed her eyes, trying to memorize all the information that was getting sent to her brain. The rough feel of Hope's jacket, her soft hair against Hayley's face, the fact that they were the same height, which made for perfect hugging. Hope smelled like Rebekah's perfume, Kol's cologne and leather, probably from the car. But that was the way it always was, wasn't it? Hope always proved one way or another that she was a part of her Mikaelson's.

"I missed you." Hayley whispered to her.

"I missed you too." They finally pulled away from each other. "And of course you missed me. I'm adorable." Hayley laughed; there was the Hope she remembered. Hayley brushed a hand over Hope's shorter hair.

"You cut your hair." The sarcastic words ' _very observant_ ' popped in Hope's head, but she didn't let those words get past her lips.

"Do you really want to talk about my hair?"

"No." Hayley pulled her into another hug.

They both heard footsteps on the stairs. Hayley reluctantly let Hope go, knowing that Klaus would want his turn. Hope sped past Hayley and she blinked in surprise; some part of her mind was still denying the fact that her baby girl was a vampire, but the speed ruined it completely. In the next second, Hope was in Klaus's arms. Elijah brushed past them to talk to Rebekah and Kol. Rebekah gave her brother a hug and Hayley decided to leave them be. Klaus was in full father mode, demanding to know if Hope was alright and everything that had happened. It wouldn't take long for Hope to get fed up with Klaus the way he was talking, Hayley decided.

"If Esther hurt you-."

"Oh, yes, her birds were very homicidal." Hope agreed, rolling her eyes. "I'm fine, I promise." She added quickly, back to being serious. Klaus took her hands in his, turning them over. Hayley hadn't been looking at her hands, but now she saw that they were tinted red.

"I had to rip a few hearts out." Hope shrugged, like it was no big deal. Klaus and Hayley exchanged looks, wishing more than anything that Hope would magically turn back into the girl they knew months ago. In all honesty, Hayley just wanted to go back before the witches killed Hope, before Hope woke up as a monster, before she was on the run with her aunt and uncle, who were, admittedly, not the best role models for her to have.

After Klaus and Hope had had a minute, Elijah went over to give his niece a hug while Klaus talked with Rebekah and Kol. Hayley tore her eyes away from her daughter to look at them as well. They looked a bit tired, a bit stressed and more than a little relieved to be home. Hayley walked over to them, forcing the words she never thought she'd say to any of the Mikaelson's out of her throat:

"Thank you." It came out a whisper, but that was all the better; they still had werewolves in the house that hadn't been told about their not-so-dead princess yet. Rebekah beamed at her.

"For what? Taking care of my niece? I would've done it under any circumstance."

"Thank you anyway. I'm sure you had better things to do."

"Than hang out with the only person in this family that doesn't annoy me? Hardly."

"I always knew I was your favorite brother, Bekah." Kol agreed smugly. Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Hardly."

"That is what the past months have been like. Constantly." Hope complained, coming over to join them. Hayley smiled; at least they were beginning to act like a normal family, as much as they could anyway.

* * *

That night, Hope had her usual nightmare. Witches, knives, agony… She was used to it, but she still woke up breathless, heart pounding. Luckily, she hadn't made a sound. She listened intently for her family spread out amongst the other bedrooms. Kol was mumbling in his sleep, something about a Gilbert and chopping arms off, which Hope promptly tuned out. Hayley was tossing and turning in her sleep. Rebekah, Elijah and Klaus's hearts were all beating steadily, which was a comfort to Hope. Still, it wasn't enough.

Hope slipped out of bed, the cold floor beneath her bare feet not bothering her at all. She ventured down to the courtyard. Somehow, even though she thought she was being completely silent, someone had heard her. She heard footsteps behind her and turned, expecting one of her parents. The footsteps weren't as soft as Rebekah or Hayley, so she was thinking it was either Elijah or Klaus. Kol slept too soundly to be bothered by her walking around.

But it wasn't anyone she knew. _Epic fail on the secrecy front,_ she told herself. It was obviously one of Hayley's werewolves. Hope couldn't bring herself to think of them as 'her pack'. Not anymore. She was only a third werewolf now after all. The werewolf in front of her was her age, cute in that kind of way that told her he would always be 'cute' and never 'hot'. His black hair was spiked up in some kind of MTV actor sort of way, wearing a t-shirt and faded jeans. The look on his face told her he was trying to figure out exactly who she was, which gave her a chance to lie and keep the secret for a little while longer.

First, however, she had to talk to him. Blurting out 'I am not Hope Mikaelson!' wasn't the best way to do it. She walked over to the bottom of the stairs.

"So you're one of Hayley's wolves?"

"Yeah. You're not one of us."

"Story of my life." She blurted out without thinking, running a hand through her hair.

"You were at the bayou the day of the bombings." He told her. She looked at him, surprised that he would remember _her_ considering the things that had happened that day.

"Excuse me?"

"You took my little brother inside the cabin. I saw you." That little boy was his brother. She remembered him and she had to ask her next question, whether it blew her cover or not:

"Is he okay?"

"He died in the second attack." Hope swallowed the lump in her throat and had to think a minute before she could respond to that.

"I'm sorry."

"You're Hope Mikaelson." Her head snapped up.

"No, I'm not. I'm just one of Hayley's old friends."

"Everyone still thinks you're dead." He mused, studying her. His eyes, she noticed, the same shade as his hair. "Have you been hiding out here the whole time?" He motioned around the Compound.

"I'm not Hope Mikaelson, buddy. Sorry to disappoint, but the princess is long dead." She lied. She considered compelling him. She'd never seen anyone compel a werewolf before and wondered if they had some kind of immunity to it like the witches did.

"Hey, I won't tell if you won't." He told her, smiling a crooked smile. _Okay, he is really cute,_ Hope thought. She'd never had a boyfriend before; boys had never really spent that much time with her. She was always that weird foster kid that was new in school and left before making any friends. Boys didn't care about girls like that, at least not the ones she'd seen.

"I have nothing to tell."

"Well, if you're not Hope Mikaelson, what can I call you?" She considered this for a second and then stuck out a hand.

"Zoë."

"I'm Dylan." They shook hands. "Can't sleep?" He added. They both sank to the steps, planting their bare feet on the steps below to stretch out their legs.

"How could you tell?"

"You're awake."

"Fair enough." She laughed at his simple answer; she could use some simplicity. "So why are Hayley's wolves living here?" She added questioningly.

"Bayou's not exactly…" He trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Safe? Intact? Free of blood stains?" Hope suggested, since he was having a hard time. He shook his head.

"Not exactly like a home anymore." He finished decidedly. "We're practically at war with each other."

"Moonlight rings still a problem?" He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. It took too long for Hope to realize that she shouldn't have known about the problems of New Orleans. "Hayley told me about that." Dylan smirked knowingly and Hope knew for certain her cover was blown.

"Well, _Zoë_ ," He put an emphasis on her name, a sarcastic way of telling her he didn't believe that was her name. _Ironically,_ Hope thought, _it really is_. "Most of the pack wants the moonlight rings. Some don't trust the witches. Some have turned into their personal lap dogs. We're divided and falling right now."

"What about Jackson?"

"Haven't seen him. He picked a heck of a time to run off, too."

"I'm sure he didn't run off." She protested. He looked at her like she was some kind of kicked puppy for believing that. Then he stood up with a sigh.

"I'm going back to bed." He announced. Hope pushed herself to her feet as well, brushing off the back of her pajama shorts.

"Goodnight, Dylan."

"Night, Princess."

"I'm not-." She started to protest uselessly but he flashed her a smile and winked, effectively cutting her off and peaking her interest in him.

"Don't worry. I've been told I talk a lot, but this is one subject I'll keep to myself." Dylan promised. He headed back up the stairs and Hope watched him until he disappeared around the corner. Then she sat back down on the steps, resting her elbows on her knees.

She couldn't call Davina; Davina was on the under-no-circumstances-can-they-know list because of her involvement with a resurrected Mikael. Jackson was MIA. She could probably use a few therapy sessions, but she and Cami weren't really friends and she knew that the human should be kept out of the loop. Dylan was a nice stand-in-friend until she could tell Davina and find Jackson, Hope decided.

With that decision made, Hope stood up again and headed for her bedroom. She wasn't in the mood for a midnight snack anymore and the sun would be up soon, which meant she would be banished to the third floor anyway. Might as well make her prison-sentence easier on everyone by keeping track of it herself…

* * *

The werewolves made themselves scarce by the time that morning came, so Hope deemed it safe enough to go onto the third floor balcony and watch what was going on in the courtyard. With vampire hearing, she could easily keep up with the conversation.

"So, which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?" Hayley asked Klaus as they both examined the table full of food.

"It's certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this..."

"Hmm. Well, then, I guess we have Elijah to thank?" Elijah walked up to them, looking at the table as well.

"This wasn't _my_ doing..."

"Then, where did this all come from?" The silver lid on a platter began to rattle; Hayley and Elijah actually jumped. Klaus lifted the lid and two starlings flew out. Hayley, Klaus and Elijah all instinctively ducked; Hope ducked under the railing to avoid the frantically fleeing birds.

"What was that?" Hope turned to look at Dylan, who had managed to creep up behind her when she was busy avoiding the birds. She put her finger to her lips and motioned for him to come over. They both kneeled on the balcony, watching the courtyard through the railing. Klaus had picked up an invitation from the platter.

"An invitation from our mother."


	32. Partners in Crime

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Klaus stared at the invitation on his balcony overlooking the French Quarter. Eventually, he turned back into his bedroom, pleasantly surprised to see Hope lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. When he came back into the room, she sat up, tucking her legs underneath her.

"It's times like this when I'm really glad my mother isn't a psychopath." She told him.

"We have enough enemies here. And now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family."

"I'm really glad you didn't say 'our' family. I've disowned her. Can I disown my grandmother or does she have to disown me?" Hope asked. Klaus smirked at the confused look on her face, like she was actually deciding if that was possible. Before he could think up an answer, Elijah came into the room.

"Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."

"Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children. I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."

"Well, then. We have," He checked his watch, "This afternoon to prepare for the worst." He walked out of the room.

"At least we got a warning this time." Hope put in bitterly. Klaus kneeled down beside the bed to look her in the eyes.

"Tonight, I need you to-."

"Stay in my room like a good little girl? Way ahead of you, dad." Klaus couldn't help but smile at her casual use of the word. She went on, not noticing it: "After this whole dinner party thing, am I in the free and clear to actually leave this floor? I hear the courtyard is real nice this time of year."

"You will not be held here for long, I assure you." He straightened up, leaning over and putting a hand on her shoulder. "It is not my intent to keep you prisoner."

"So how long until the wolf pack gets to know I'm not dead?"

"That is entirely up to them and how trustworthy they prove themselves to be." He explained. Hayley walked into the room, holding her phone.

"Letting Oliver live paid off, at least. He just informed me your mother has a partner-in-crime: another witch."

"Building alliances in her quest to destroy us, I imagine." Klaus didn't seem surprised or even intimidated.

"Why does she hate you so much, Klaus? She had six kids; it's not like she doesn't have the maternal gene." Hayley pointed out.

"Seven, actually. And, I think at one time, she loved us very much." Klaus paused, uncomfortable. He sat down on the bed, letting Hope lean against his shoulder, before he continued: "One died before I was born."

"I didn't know that." Hayley said, sounding slightly guilty as she went to sit on Hope's other side.

"Years later, my brother Henrik was killed by the werewolves in our village. The loss of another child pushed my mother over the edge. So, she used her magic to turn us into immortals. I think that's when she loved us the most. But, it was her undoing. It triggered a sequence of events that led to the reveal of her long-held secret. My birth father was the werewolf whose pack killed my little brother. Of course, when Mikael found out, he murdered my real father, and so, my mother lost her lover, too."

"Wow. No wonder she's crazy. I was out of my mind having just sending Hope away... I can't imagine if she'd actually _died_." Hayley whispered, staring at her daughter. Klaus and Hope both knew that she was thinking of when the witches slit Hope's throat in front of her.

"You know, my siblings used to tell each other she didn't hate us, she hated herself for what we've become. I think they believed that even after she tried to kill us all."

"What did you believe?" Hayley questioned, tearing her eyes away from Hope.

"I don't know. I just knew I wanted her dead." Just like that, Klaus was back to himself.

"Well, every good story needs a wicked witch. It'll be all the more satisfying when we melt her." Hope told him, which seemed to cheer him up a bit. She fell back against the bed. "This is a nice bed." She added, closing her eyes contently.

"Yeah, a bed that Genevieve was in almost every night." Hayley agreed. Both realized how true that was at the same time and sprang up from the bed as if it was suddenly radioactive. Hope shuddered.

"I'll be on _my_ bed." She left the room, quickly making her way through the hallways. Someone grabbed her and pulled her into a spare room. She looked at Dylan, unamused.

"Do that again and I'll make your head explode."

"Whoa, can you do that?"

"You wanna test that theory?"

"No."

"What's going on?" She asked, trying not to laugh at the look on his face.

"I hear that there's going to be some witches here tonight. _Unfriendly witches_." He stressed the words.

"Haven't met many witches that were friendly. As long as we lay low here, they won't even know we're here."

"I was thinking the opposite." Dylan told her. She looked at him.

"What? Run and jump on the table and announce 'here we are, kill us if you dare'?" She asked sarcastically. Before he could say a word, she added: "Not that they have much reason to kill us. Sure, you're not allied with Esther anymore, but she's more focused on the Mikaelson's."

"Let's stop pretending I don't know who you are. You've got the voodoo and the hoodoo and the fangs and the claws. You can be all _rawr_ -." He showed his non-fanged teeth and held up his clawless hands, as if that was supposed to suggest either one of them was looking particularly scary at the moment. "-so instead of staying here like Rapzunel, you can let Prince Charming take you out."

"And where's my Prince Charming?" She asked, pretending to look around in anticipation. Dylan shot her a dirty look.

"My point is, instead of waiting for the Mikaelsons to try and get the information out of the witches… Let's figure it out ourselves." He told her excitedly.

"We're not Mystery Inc." She protested.

"Gee, Scooby, I hadn't noticed."

"If anyone is Scooby, it's you." She told him pointedly. He made a face at her. "But… We can use this to our advantage. Are you a triggered werewolf?"

"No." She'd expected that; he just didn't look like someone who would have committed murder, accidentally or not.

"Then you're going to help me. We're going to steal something from Esther."

"We're gonna what now?"

"You two are going to yourselves in trouble." Kol told them from the doorway. Dylan jumped like he'd been electrocuted and grabbed at his chest like he was going to have a heart attack.

"Don't do that!"

"Darling, you do know the meaning of the word 'secret', right?" Kol continued, staring at Hope.

"Yeah, because you're known for keeping your mouth shut too. Get in here." She grabbed Kol's arm, jerked him into the room and shut the door behind him. She turned to face him, ignoring Dylan's obvious discomfort beside her. "Rebekah, Elijah and my dad are going to be at the dinner tonight. You're not."

"Apparently, I'm my family's dirty little secret now too. If I know you like I think I do, you've got some devious little plan up your sleeve. Come on now, darling, tell your Uncle Kol all about it."

* * *

The cemetery was even creepier at night. She felt only slightly safer with Dylan and Kol flanking her. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting a witch with a knife to jump out at her any second. Kol put his hand on her back, steering her around a corner.

"You seem to forget you and I are the scariest things here. And we have someone expendable with us. We won't have to run faster than the witches, we'll just run faster than him." He added, nodding his head towards Dylan.

"Hey!"

"Why is he here anyway?" Kol asked.

"I wasn't going to leave him in the Compound with Esther! Besides, he's my friend."

"No, I'm your friend. He's expendable." Kol insisted.

"No, you are my _uncle_. I brought you into this land of the living again and I can take you right back out of it."

"No, you can't!"

"Wanna press your luck?" While they were arguing like children, Dylan slipped past them to peek into one of the tombs. There was no one inside, but he didn't have to be a genius to see some spells had been done in there.

"Hey, guys!" Kol and Hope turned. He motioned at the tomb. The three of them hurried inside and Hope began to paw through the spell book on the table immediately. Kol grabbed a loose piece of paper, looking over it quickly.

"Here. The spell for moonlight rings." He handed it to her. She quickly folded it up and stuck it into her jacket pocket. They hurried from the tomb and Kol started to lead the way out of the cemetery. As they were passing one tomb, they heard voices that made them stop.

"They worked her over pretty good." Hope would know that voice anywhere; after all, she'd imagined punching Oliver in the face more times than she cared to admit.

"We need to get her out of here." Hayley insisted.

"Huh? Then what? They'll know that I let her go! Look, you asked me to infiltrate Cassie's coven, I'm not gonna blow my cover for some has-been hippie-witch!" There was a pause. "No offense!"

"I guess we could always make it look like you got jumped? Tell Cassie that Lenore got rescued by her people?"

"Let me guess, you, uh, wanna beat me? Make it look convincing?" Hope couldn't resist; she hurried to the doorway of the tomb and held out her hand. Oliver was slammed against the wall, repeatedly, until he was unconscious. Hope let his body sag to the floor.

Hayley looked up and stared at her.

"Hope!"

" _Now_ it's convincing." Hayley continued to stare at her, like she'd completely lost her mind. Maybe she had… Dylan and Kol nearly knocked her over as they grouped around her in the doorway.

"We gotta go before Mama Witch comes back." Dylan insisted, bouncing on his heels. Kol just looked at the unconscious Oliver and smirked.

"That's my girl." He ruffled Hope's hair and then disappeared out into the cemetery itself again. Rolling her eyes, Hope motioned for Hayley to follow her. Hayley took the arm of the witch she'd been rescuing and they hurried out, following Kol towards the gate.

"Lenore is going to do a spell for us." Hayley reported. Hope thought of the moonlight ring spell tucked into her pocket.

"What kind of spell?"

"She'll mark Esther's new body when she switches."

"Hey, remember when my biggest problem was that I thought my dad had murdered my uncle?" Hayley stared at her, wide-eyed. "Never mind. That was pre-finding you. Not the point. How is a mark going to help us? There are a lot of witches that she could jump into."

"At least we'll know who she is; she can't trick us."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll find a way." Hope was very pessimistic on that front, but certain at the same time.

* * *

Lenore's shop was small, dark and smelled weird. Hope did her best to keep those thoughts to herself as she stood in the corner, watching Lenore. Hayley was pacing in front of the witch, looking anxious, while Kol stood there, studying the spell Lenore had in front of her. Dylan lingered close to Hope, fidgeting.

"So… This is normal? I mean, you do this all the time."

"You'd be surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hope just shrugged in response. Dylan made a sound of annoyance and turned, slamming his back against the wall, his shoulder bumping Hope's.

"So, will this take long?" Hayley asked impatiently.

"You want me to soul-brand the resurrected spirit of a thousand-year-old witch? It's best I take my time and do it right." Lenore looked up at Hayley, her face softening. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. No one should ever have to lose a child." Hayley kept her eyes on Lenore, even when Hope looked at her, expecting something from Hayley. But Hayley gave no sign that Hope was actually her daughter and Lenore made no comment about the young witch in their midst.

"No. No one should." Hayley agreed tonelessly. Lenore lit a bundle of safe and wafted the smoke around the room.

"You have the talisman?"

"Oh." Hayley dug a necklace out of her pocket and handed it over. "So, how does this work? You brand Esther with the spell, and then what?"

"The next time she jumps into a body, she'll be marked with a distinctive symbol on the back of her hand. This way, you'll always know who she is."

"We still don't know why she's here. When Esther held you captive, did she give you any idea why she's doing all this?" Lenore took a live python out of the bag in front of her. Hope ducked behind Kol on instinct, like the snake was going to eat her alive.

"Love!" Lenore replied. Hayley scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"How hard did they hit you?"

"What besides love can inspire such pain and cruelty? And Esther?" Lenore took a knife in her free hand and sliced down the length of the snake. She disemboweled it and squeezed the entrails in her hands, dripping the blood in the cauldron. Dylan was practically dry heaving behind them. "Her love is very, _very_ strong." Lenore started chanting while the others watched her, in mixtures of disgust, concern and curiosity.

Finally, Lenore finished. She fell forward, leaning against the table to keep from falling over. Hayley stepped towards her, hands out to catch her on instinct.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." Lenore answered, dazed.

"You sure-?"

"Just getting my bearings..." Lenore lifted her hand from the table and Hayley yelped, jumping back when she saw the mark on Lenore's hand. Dylan straightened up, on alert. Kol backed up, colliding with Hope and throwing his arm up as if to shield her.

"The mark..." Hayley whispered. Esther looked down and took in her new body. "It's you, isn't it? Esther." Esther smirked in amusement.

Hayley's phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it out, eyes on Esther as the witch started washing the snake blood from her hands. Esther nodded to her.

"Go ahead. You can answer it." Hayley quickly answered the phone, speaking into it before the person on the other end could get out a word:

"Elijah? I'm at Lenore's shop-." Esther flicked her hand and Hayley dropped the phone with a yelp.

"That'll be enough!" Hayley glared at Esther.

"They're gonna come for me."

"My darling, that's been the idea _all along_." She glanced around the room and focused on Kol. "Kol. I would've brought you back with Finn, but it appears my granddaughter beat me to it." She looked over his arm at Hope, who set her jaw and stared back. "And it appears you're all liars."

Hayley moved forward, getting beside Kol to try and shield Hope as well. Esther just smiled at them, wiping off her hands with a towel.

"It's so lovely to finally meet you. Tell me, do my sons ever acknowledge the good you bring into their lives? After all, it was you who gave them _hope_." Hayley stared at her. "In more than one way, it appears." She jerked her chin towards Hope. Hayley ground her teeth together.

"Go." She ordered her daughter. She grabbed Dylan's arm and started to speed from the shop with him in tow. The doors slammed shut.

"You really think I'm letting you go?" Hope kicked the door uselessly, turning back to Esther. "Children are meant to save us from the worst parts of who we are. A truth that makes my own circumstances all the more tragic, wouldn't you say?" Esther questioned Hayley.

"I don't pity you, Esther."

"You claim to love your children, yet I remember very clearly you trying to slaughter us!" Kol snarled.

"Can you blame me, Kol? After the monster you and your siblings had become!" Esther yelled. She took a breath and collected herself. "I can offer you both freedom. The gift of a new body. Kol, you can practice magic again. Hayley, you can have more children of your own. Wouldn't that be nice?"

The doors swung open and Hope had to move out of the way. Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah came in. Klaus sped at Esther, but Esther threw a powder at him. He couldn't get at her, a magical barrier separating them.

"You hide behind your spells like a coward!"

"I did _not_ come here to wage war!" Elijah ran at her from behind, but she threw another handful of powder behind her, preventing him from coming any closer as well.

"Everything you do is an act of war. If you touch them-."

"Hayley and her daughter are free to go. I've spoken my piece; she knows why I'm here. I have come to heal our family, Elijah."

"Well, that's a grand sentiment, coming from you." Klaus growled at her. He looked at Hope and Hayley. "Go. Now." Hope looked like she was going to protest, but Rebekah grabbed her and steered her towards the door. Hope pushed Dylan ahead of her and the four of them hurried from the shop.

A light bulb exploded above the men and their focus returned to Esther.

"My intent was _never_ to harm! Only to heal, as I have already healed your brother, Finn. For you, I will undo everything that has been done, thereby giving you a new life!" Another light bulb exploded overhead. "One without the vampire curse _I_ inflicted upon you. Ask Kol to share with you my _loving_ proposition."

"You're a fool if you think we'll accept anything that you offer!"

"Oh, you are wrong, Niklaus!" The ground started to rumble. More light bulbs exploded and the brothers had to shield their faces with their arms. "There will come a time, my darlings, that you will _beg for it!_ " The glass in the windows shattered inward. Hundreds of Starlings burst into the store.

* * *

"Of _course_ she used those birds to make her offer!" Klaus was fuming as he came into the compound courtyard. Hayley, Rebekah and Hope were anxiously awaiting their return, but Elijah was speaking before any of the women could say a word.

"Besides the offer of rebirth, what else did she say?" It didn't seem directed at anyone in particular, so Hayley answered.

"I don't know. She rambled a lot. She blamed the two of you for what happened to Hope, to me..." Klaus looked at her, appalled.

"Well, I hope you're not thinking of taking her offer?" Hayley didn't say a word, her eyes drifting away from him. "Hayley! I'm talking to you!"

"What do you want me to say, Klaus? The past seventeen years of my life I've been a monster searching for a daughter that I don't even get to spend a year with before she'd whisked away again! So, yeah, when your mother offers to wipe the slate clean, _excuse me_ if I'm tempted." With that, Hayley stormed off. Elijah looked like he was about to go after her, but Klaus stopped her.

"Leave her. I need you with me." He paused, thinking. "Our mother, Elijah, the woman who brought us into the world, made us what we are, and the whole time, she _lied_ to me! She made me weak."

"Yeah, you seem real weak to me." Hope agreed sarcastically, sitting on the edge of the table. Rebekah crossed her arms, staring at her brother.

"You were never weak, Nik. You are, you have _always_ been, the most fierce of us all. For better or for worse." She insisted.

"In a thousand years, I have never seen anyone successfully stand against you. Not even our wicked father. Not _one_ of the countless devoted to your destruction. You'll protect our home, even in the face of an adversary such as our mother, because that, brother... _that_ is what you _do._ " Elijah agreed. Klaus looked both surprised and grateful.

"If we're done with the touchy-feely stuff, I, for one, would like to get back to how we're going to melt the wicked witch." Hope put in. Klaus smirked at her.

"That's what the Mikaelson's do best: destroy people."


	33. Back from the Dead

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope sat on the edge of her bed, waiting in anticipation. Finally, she kicked Kol in the leg so that he would look up at her.

"Well? Would it work?"

"Binding the moonlight rings to something else? Maybe, but it would have to be something power." He mused, handing back the page with the spell written on it.

"Like an astrological event?"

"Perhaps."

"Like a full moon?"

"The rings would only work on a full moon…" Kol trailed over, slowly starting to smile.

"Which is the only time they'd need it." Hope finished, looking very pleased with herself.

"We'd need to wait for the next full moon in order to make them."

"Fine. But it'll work, right?" She questioned, standing up from her bed.

"If we do it right, then yes." Kol agreed, leaning back against her desk chair. She opened the top drawer of her nightstand and put the paper inside, amongst pictures and the wooden knight Rebekah and Klaus had given her. Turning back to Kol, she opened her mouth to say something else but they heard Elijah yelling below in the courtyard.

"Brother! Niklaus!" Exchanging looks, they hurried onto the balcony. Hope kept back and out of sight from the werewolves in the courtyard, but she could Elijah and Hayley below.

"You do realize that literally _everyone_ in here has supernatural hearing, right?"

"Where is my brother?"

"I'll check his calendar... Wait, no. Not his wife, so..."

"Hayley, this city is under siege by an army of beasts following my deranged mother's every command. Now, considering it was _your_ people who just declared war on _my_ kind, now's not the _best_ time for your particular brand of _sass_." He told her. Hayley glared at him.

"Klaus left a while ago. If you want to find him, I can't help you. If only there was a magical device that people used to call people? I don't know, I'm out of ideas. Good luck." She turned to walk away, but turned back to Elijah after only a couple steps. "Oh, one more thing, Elijah: those 'beasts' that you're referring to? They may be under Esther's control, but, like you said, they're _my_ people. So, if you hurt them, your mother will be the _least_ of your problems." She walked away for good that time, leaving Elijah staring after her.

Kol looked at Hope.

"What's with them?" He was curious but not overly concerned about the matter. She shrugged.

"I think they like each other but they don't want to admit it." She explained.

"Like?" He echoed.

"Hopeless crushes they won't admit to having because they're 'mature'." Hope amended, making air quotes with her fingers. She ducked back into her room, collapsing on her bed. Kol followed, watching her from the doorway.

"Imagine being stuck in a coffin for a hundred years. _That's_ being a prisoner." He told her. She propped herself up on her elbow.

"Oh, are we still milking that?" Without waiting for his answer, she continued: "Well, call me a spoiled brat, but I don't like being locked up. I need to get out of here."

"And where would we be going?" He asked, smirking. Encouraged by that, Hope sat up completely, tucking her legs underneath her.

"Dad's worried about Mikael-."

"For good reason, little niece, so I hope you aren't planning on taking him on."

"Not exactly. Mikael is being controlled by Davina-."

"Who?"

"My best friend."

"Get a new best friend, darling."

"You're not being very helpful." She told him, annoyed. He shrugged, unconcerned with his unhelpfulness. "My point is, I need to get to Davina before Klaus does. I have a feeling he would've have left for this long if he doesn't have a plan regarding her and Mikael. He'll probably kill her-."

"I'll help."

"She's my _best friend_." Hope stressed the words, as if he hadn't heard her first time. He sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Which means you have a plan equally as likely to go wrong and end up with dead bodies."

"We're Mikaelson's; dead bodies are part of the deal." She shrugged, watching him carefully. He sighed again, looking into the hallway. Then he turned back to her, crossing his arms.

"And what would I be doing?"

"Helping me. I need to, a, get out of the city without being seen. B, find Davina. And C, make sure Mikael doesn't kill me. You helped me once before with him." She reminded him.

"He can actually kill me this time, darling. Not happening." He turned to leave.

"Kol, wait!" She called, causing him to turn back around and look at her again. She put on her sweetest smile.

"No, no, no. Do not give me that smile!" She widened her eyes, putting on her most pleading, innocent face. He snarled under his breath. "You are going to be the death of me, little niece." He accused. She grinned, scrambling off the bed and rushing over to her window.

"Come on." She insisted, pushing open the window.

"Family's a pain in my-."

"Language! And you adore me." Hope reminded him, still smiling at him.

"That's why you're still alive." He agreed, following her out the window.

* * *

Vamp-speed got them out of the city without being seen. She did a locator spell just fine, using thing she'd stolen from Davina's old house. Then came what she _really_ needed Kol's help with. As they got closer to the cabin Davina and Mikael were apparently holed up in, Hope got more and more anxious.

A branch snapped behind them and Hope whirled around. Kol sighed in annoyance, grabbing her arm and making her move forward again.

"It's nothing." He assured her. Either way, she was still on edge as they got to the driveway. An SUV was parked outside and she recognized it instantly.

"Dad's already here." She whispered.

"Well, we tried." Kol turned to leave, but Hope grabbed his arm.

"Hey! We can't just leave her."

"Oh, yes, we can." He disagreed. Hope flung his arm back towards him.

"Fine, go! I'm staying." She hurried towards the cabin and Kol grumbled something under his breath before following.

Klaus was pacing in front of the cabin, completely oblivious to Hope approaching him from behind.

"Enough games, Davina! Send out my father! Let's finish this."

"Dad!" Hope hissed and he whirled.

"No, get out of here, right now." He ordered. He caught sight of Kol and looked a bit murderous. Kol wasn't surprised; he was sure a dagger in his heart was the least of what Klaus was planning for bringing his daughter right to Mikael.

"I am not leaving! You're going to kill Davina."

"And sleep very well afterwards, yes." He agreed.

"You're not going to kill her." She growled. The door creaked open and Mikael stepped out onto the porch. Hope backed up, knowing that he recognized her. Mikael smirked at the three of them and then focused on Klaus.

"Hello, boy. You seem rather impatient. Are you so eager to meet your end?"

"I'm only eager to stand over your burning corpse again. Only this time, I intend to enjoy it more." Klaus shot back, trying and failing not to glance at Hope worriedly. She returned his glance and looked over at Kol. He looked equally as worried, but he set his jaw. Three Mikaelson's against Mikael? It sounded like they had him easy, but she knew better.

Mikael walked down the stairs of the front porch. Klaus held his ground, glancing towards Hope again. She was watching the cabin, trying to catch sight of Davina. Mikael was looking quite eager, his eyes traveling over to Hope as opposed to Klaus. Klaus put out his arm, pushing Hope behind him. She obediently moved, catching Kol's wrist and pulling him over so that they were all close together.

"I've traveled all the way back from hell for this moment."

"Well, then, I'd hate to keep you waiting." Klaus agreed. He lunged forward and he and Mikael started fighting, a blur of movement that even Hope had trouble following. Kol pushed her forward, towards the cabin.

"Go." He ordered. She sped towards the cabin, but Mikael kicked Klaus to the ground and grabbed her. He threw her back and she hit a tree before hitting the ground. Kol had Mikael in a chokehold before he could catch up to Hope. He jerked his head towards the cabin. Hope hesitated, but ran for the porch as Klaus and Kol tried to contain Mikael. She hit the doorway and stumbled back like she'd hit a wall.

 _I haven't been invited in_ , she realized. She got as close to the doorway as she could and looked in, trying to spot Davina.

"Davina! Davina, please, it's me. It's Hope." She called out. Davina came limping out of one of the other rooms, staring at her in shock.

"Hope?"

"It's me. I'm alive. Kind of. You have to stop Mikael. He's going to kill Klaus, please." She pleaded, casting a glance back into the yard. Kol had been kicked to the ground and Mikael was trying to get the white-oak stake into Klaus's chest. Hope looked back at Davina, desperate.

"He won't kill Klaus. I ordered him not to." Davina recovered her composure, holding her head high. Hope looked back out. Mikael stabbed the white oak stake into Klaus's shoulder instead, completely missing his heart. Klaus yelled in pain and Mikael took the stake out, throwing him to the ground and going for Kol.

"He'll kill Kol. My uncle. Davina, stop him, please!"

"You're a vampire." Davina realized, watching as Hope couldn't get past the doorway.

"I'm a hybrid. But I am still your best friend and I am begging you to stop him." Davina started to look uncertain, twisting her bracelet around her wrist. Hope looked back at Mikael and realized she was out of time to discuss anything with Davina. Mikael had Kol pinned against a tree by the throat, white oak stake raised.

Hope jumped off the porch and sped over to them. She shoved Mikael back and held out her hand, intent on giving him the headache of a lifetime. He barely looked fazed by her magic. She looked at Kol, who was coughing and trying to recover from Mikael's beating. By the time Hope looked back, Mikael was right in front of her. She grabbed his arm, trying to keep the white oak stake from entering her chest. He kicked her legs out from underneath her and she fell to the ground. He got on top of her, still trying to get the white oak into her chest.

"Davina!" She screamed, even more desperate now that Mikael was so close to killing _her_. The tip broke through her skin and she screamed in pain; she hadn't known a simple wooden object could hurt _so much_.

"Stop! Get back inside!" Davina yelled. Mikael immediately stopped, taking the white oak out of her chest, and sped into the house. Davina was out on the porch, watching Hope worriedly. Hope rolled over onto her side, a blood covered hand against her healing chest.

Klaus and Kol were leaning over her immediately; Klaus had his hands on her shoulders, rolling her onto her back to get a good look at her.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm okay." She breathed out in relief, her wound healed. Klaus pulled her to her feet, practically throwing her against Kol.

"Get her out of here." He ordered, turning towards Davina. Hope leapt forward, grabbing his arm.

"You can't kill her!" Before anyone else could speak, Davina's bracelet popped off and landed on the porch with a clatter. Everyone stared at it.

A voice chanting a spell reached their ears and they all turned. Finn, in his new witch body, was there. He held his hand out and the Mikaelson's collapsed with screams and yells, blood streaming out of their noses. Finn stopped chanting and, with a small smile, disappeared into the trees again.

Davina bounded off the porch, heading for Hope. Before she could reach them, Mikael had her in a chokehold. She gasped for breath, unable to command him to do anything. Klaus sped forward and stabbed Mikael in the back with Papa Tunde's blade. Mikael yelled and collapsed, releasing Davina as the knife embedded itself in Mikael's heart.

Hope raced forward, putting herself in between Klaus and Davina. Klaus ran a hand over his face.

"I'm not going to kill her. Not now, at least." That was as good as they were going to get; Hope turned around to face Davina. The witch was looking scared and was having trouble standing; she was barefoot and Hope could see her swollen ankle, caused by who-knew-what.

"I thought you were dead."

"I tried it, I didn't like it." Hope cracked a smile and Davina laughed nervously before they hugged each other.

"Yes, yes, this is all well and good, but we're ignoring the fact that you brought my father back to life. Why?" Davina pulled away from Hope, though still leaning against her to keep upright.

"To kill you, once I unlinked you from your sire line."

"And how did that work for you?"

"Enough, enough." Kol complained, staring down at Mikael's body. "Shouldn't we be focusing on our father? Show some respect!" By 'respect', Kol obviously meant how painful his death was going to be.

Frantic, fast-paced footsteps thundered up the driveway. Cami was running towards them, panting and trying to catch her breath as she caught up to them.

"Davina! Are you okay? If something happened to her, Klaus, I swear to-."

"I'm fine." Davina interrupted, smiling slightly at Cami's obvious panic. Cami sighed in relief.

"Of course, if you drop dead of a heart attack, I _may_ have to kill her on general principle." Klaus told her, smiling. Cami glared at him.

"You're the one that ditched me at the bar! I had to _hitch-hike_ and _then_ run on the back roads of the _Bayou_!"

"Well, your perseverance is duly noted."

"Oh, shut up! I'm so mad at you, I can hardly _speak_. But, I am here, and it is to tell you, not to bargain with you, and not to shame you, but to _tell_ you: under _no_ circumstances will you hurt that girl, do you understand me?" Cami pointed at Davina for emphasis.

"You have my word." Davina looked at Klaus in surprise. Cami, relieved, rushed to Klaus and gave him a hug. Kol leaned over to whisper to the girls.

"Who is this crazy woman?"

"Remember our conversation about Hayley and Elijah's status?"

"Yes."

"Same deal."

"Honestly, they have no idea how to court a woman." Kol said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're great at it, Kol. Flowers, chocolates, the heads of their enemies on silver platters…" Kol just smirked at her.

"Works like a charm, little niece."

"Is that Mikael? Is he...?" Cami trailed off, looking at the body near Klaus's feet.

"He's still alive... in complete and utter agony. I decided to take your advice and keep him that way." Klaus told her proudly, though Cami looked a bit horrified.

"Can we leave?" Davina whispered to Hope, leaning on her pretty heavily. Hope held up her wrist.

"I can give you my blood for that ankle-."

"No, no… I just want to go home." Davina told her.

"And where is that, exactly?" Hope questioned; if Davina had parents, she didn't live with them anymore. Her old house had been pretty much abandoned. For Davina, it was either a motel or her attic.

"Wherever Marcel is at."

"He has a loft, away from the compound. You wanna hang out with me and my mom's pack at the compound or Marcel's vamps at the loft."

"Whichever is closer and has the most hot water for a shower."

"Never been to Marcel's place. By default, you're coming with me." Hope announced, wrapping Davina's arm around her shoulder. Klaus got to work loading Mikael's body into the trunk of his SUV, though Hope could feel his eyes on her as she helped Davina down the driveway.

"Here." Kol told them, more annoyed by Hope's lack of vamp-speed, which she'd never tried with someone else, than anything else. He grabbed Davina and darted away, leaving Hope to roll her eyes and follow.

* * *

Davina stretched out on Hope's bed, with Hope sitting cross-legged beside her. Kol had whipped up some kind of past as opposed to vampire blood that was supposed to help Davina's ankle. He sat on the end of the bed, putting the paste on her ankle and foot.

"There." He wiped his hands on a towel. Davina sat up on her elbows.

"Wow. I don't feel-." She started to stand up and fell over. Kol caught her before she fell.

"Careful. It's magic, not a miracle." He protested, gently shoving her back onto the bed.

"Right. Thanks." She leaned back against Hope's pillows with a sigh and was instantly asleep. Hope looked at her, studying her to see if she really was asleep. She appeared to be. Hope looked at Kol.

"Don't do that."

"What?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"Flirt with her."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

"Darling, if I was flirting, there would be no doubt."

"Well, don't do it. I can't be the only single one in the family."

"Everyone's single." He felt obligated to point out.

"Mom and Elijah are going to be together. Cami and dad are going to be together. Rebekah and Marcel are going to be together. You can't get with my best friend of all people. It's unacceptable." Hope told him sternly. She glanced out the open door into the hallway and spotted a familiar figure passing by. Without a word, she slipped off the bed and hurried out.

She caught up to Dylan as he was heading into his room. He heard her approaching and turned, a grin on his face as he saw her.

"Hey." She greeted him.

"What's up with you?" He questioned.

"Almost got killed. Saved my bestie from certain death. All in a day's work."

"Almost got killed. Saved a bunch of young werewolves from almost certain death. All in a day's work." He returned, his grin widening.

"Sounds fun."

"I'm like Batman!" He said excitedly. "Your mom helped." He added, shrugging. He glanced towards his room and back at her.

"You're probably exhausted. Go to bed." She told him.

"Goodnight, Hope."

"Night." She walked away from his room as he ducked inside. She got about two feet before almost running into Rebekah. She jumped back. "Jeez, Aunt Bekah!" She complained. Rebekah just smiled at her.

"When's the first date?"

"Excuse me?"

"You and that wolf boy."

"We're not dating."

"That's cute." Rebekah told her, giving her a patronizing look. Hope rolled her eyes and slipped past her.

"You're seeing things, Bekah. Must be the old age."

"Oh, really?" Rebekah scoffed, catching up with her easily. Hope nodded sincerely.

"Don't worry, it happens to everyone. Is that a grey hair?" Rebekah smacked at her and Hope dodged it swiftly, going back into her room. Kol was gone, but Davina was still asleep on the far side of her bed. Sighing, Hope kicked off her shoes and lied down next to her.

Rebekah followed her in, looking down at Davina.

"Oh, she's still alive. I love a good survival story. Now, tell me what you and Kol were doing, sneaking out tonight."

"And what were you doing with Marcel?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"On second thought, no." Rebekah laughed and joined her on the bed to listen to what crazy night Hope had had without her.


	34. Stronger than Ever

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Insistent buzzing of a phone woke Hope up. She opened her eyes, just enough to see that it was still dark out and probably only mere hours after she'd lied down. It wasn't her phone, she knew that, and Davina's phone was resting in between them, silent. That left Rebekah's phone.

"Rebekah?" She asked tiredly, closing her eyes. Rebekah mumbled something incoherent, still half-asleep. "Rebekah!" She got even less of an answer. She kicked out behind her and her foot connected with her aunt. Rebekah tumbled off the bed and onto the floor.

"What the bloody-."

"Shut up your phone." Hope mumbled, burying her face in the nearest pillow. Sighing, Rebekah grabbed her phone from the nightstand and checked it. It was Klaus calling. She answered it, sitting up against the bed.

"Nik?"

" _Rebekah, finally!_ " Klaus sounded annoyed she hadn't answered immediately. " _Elijah isn't answering his phone. Tell me you're with Hope._ "

"I'm with Hope." Rebekah assured him.

" _Mikael is on the loose with the stake and Cami is a hostage. I am weaponless and in need of reinforcement. Urgently. Send Kol, stay with Hope, get her someplace safe, before Mikael comes for her._ " He ordered.

"Wait, Nik-." She wanted more information, but Klaus had already hung up. She stared at her phone for a second and then stood up, shaking Davina and Hope awake.

"Uh, what?" Hope protested.

"Get up, now." Since neither of them jumped to obey, she yanked the covers they were lying on top of upwards. They tumbled off onto the floor. "Get up." She repeated, shoving her phone into her pocket. Mikael would know about the compound; he'd, evidently, spent some time there when he was still on the Other Side, invisible to their eyes.

Rebekah hurried into the hallway as Davina and Hope started to realize that something must've been really wrong and got moving.

"Kol!" There was no response, so she hurried down to his room and started banging on the door. "Kol!" The door swung up and Kol was looking very annoyed on the other side of it.

"What?"

"Mikael's on the loose. Klaus wants back-up while I take care of Hope."

"He wants a distraction! Mikael will tear me apart!" He protested.

"Do you want to argue about this right now, Kol?"

"Yes!"

"What's going on?" Hope was still trying to get on her shoes as she stumbled towards them. Rebekah sighed, turning to her. Davina hurried after her, her hair a mess but wide awake and alert.

"Mikael got free. He has Cami. Klaus wants back-up, but he made a poor choice if he's looking for loyalty." Rebekah shot an annoyed look at her brother.

"I'm going." Hope started to walk away, but Rebekah jumped forward to catch her wrist.

"Nik said-."

"Since we do we do what Klaus says?" She had a point, even Rebekah had to admit that.

Hayley and Marcel came running up the stairs. Hayley beat Marcel to them, looking around, confused as to what was going on. Rebekah released Hope's wrist as she looked at the other woman.

"What's going on?" Rebekah questioned

"Elijah's missing."

"Mikael is going to kill Klaus." Rebekah offered up another bit of bad news.

"I don't care." Hayley seemed pretty sincere in that and Hope shot her a look. Hayley sighed and went on: "What's the plan? Regarding _both_ of them?"

"Someone has to make sure Hope-."

"If you end that sentence with 'is kept safe', I'll hit you." Hope cut her off.

"Nik said-."

"And we're back to how we don't do what he says."

"Alright, alright, let's split up, alright? Let's face it: Hope can take care of herself-."

"You know I'm alive." Hope suddenly realized. Marcel looked at her.

"Klaus took the compulsion off. You're very observant." He told her sarcastically. He took a second to recover his train of thought: "Someone needs to find Elijah and someone needs to make sure the originator of my sire line doesn't die!"

"Rebekah, you know Elijah better than I do…" Kol told her, trailing off because his point was made. Rebekah sighed and nodded.

"I'll see what I can do to find Elijah."

"I'm coming with you." Hayley said immediately.

"Fine. You, me and Hope-."

"You, mom, Marcel and Davina." Hope corrected. Everyone looked at her.

"Davina's a target, so we are not going to hand deliver her to Mikael and Marcel isn't old enough to stand a chance against him. You guys find Elijah, Kol and I will focus on helping dad."

"Why?" Kol whined; he was obviously expecting to get out of helping anyone.

"Tell you what, I'm going to go help dad. You can go get some much needed beauty sleep or you can come with me and make sure I don't die. Totally up to you." With that, Hope turned on her heel and walked away.

"Hope! Mikael is strong, he'll-." Hayley started. Hope whirled to face her.

"What, kill me? He's had two chances before and we took him down both times. I'm not scared of him." Hope insisted. Her voice was firm and the look on her face said that it wasn't up for debate. "Esther and Finn probably did something to Elijah. You four are going to need to stick together. Kol, are you coming or not?" Hope demanded, growing more annoyed and angry by the second.

"Manipulate little witch." Kol muttered as he hurried to follow her. Hayley, Rebekah, Marcel and Davina looked around at each other and then went to leave the compound as well.

* * *

The sun was rising as Kol and Hope trampled through the Bayou, following Klaus and Mikael's scent.

"When we find them, we have to get the white oak stake away from Mikael." Hope mused. She looked over at Kol. "The white oak stake can be used more than once because it was empowered with magic, right? What if I can take the magic aspect of it away and make it… I don't know, unusable?"

"Take the power away from a dark object? That'll take some power." He looked her over. "You might be able to do it."

"So it could work?"

"If you do it right and you've got enough power… yeah." He agreed.

"Teach me the spell." She insisted. Before he could say a word, they walked into a clearing… a clearing full of bodies. Some of them were drained of blood while others had had their necks snapped. Hope looked around and then looked back at Kol, who was looking a bit disturbed.

"I think we're getting close…" He murmured. He looked back at Hope. "Walk and learn at the same time, little niece. I have a feeling father isn't wasting time."

* * *

Kol and Hope ran into the old building, the sounds of a fight reaching their ears. Hope started to rush in, but Kol caught her and held her back.

"The spell, Hope. Focus on that."

"He's going to kill-." Kol cut her off with a sigh.

"There will come a day when I'll be smart enough to stop fighting for you lot." He grumbled. He hurried into the building, leaving Hope to do the spell outside.

Kol took in lots of things at once as he walked in. Cami was struggling to pull herself to her feet in one part of the room while Klaus was kicking Mikael to the floor in another. Klaus got on top of Mikael and turned the white oak stake on him, trying to stab it into his chest.

"Not as weak as you remember, am I?" Klaus asked, smirking. Kol rolled his eyes. _Leave it to Nik to be smug when murdering his own father._ Mikael threw Tunde's blade at Cami's face. Klaus looked up, ready to move with vampire speed. Kol caught the blade an inch from Cami's face.

Mikael kicked Klaus off him and grabbed the white oak stake back. In one swift movement, he was on top of Klaus, stabbing the stake into his heart. Cami screamed as Kol let the blade drop to the ground in surprise.

"No!" Cami screamed again. On instinct, she moved forward, but Kol blocked her with his arm. Mikael stood up, staring at Klaus's body.

"Why aren't you burning? If you were dead, it would burn. _BURN!_ " Mikael shouted. Then he stopped, listening. Kol did too and realized Mikael could hear Hope's chants outside the room. Mikael blurred forward, but Kol intercepted him, throwing him back.

Mikael scrambled to his feet and Kol braced himself, knowing that Mikael would have no problem killing him. Cami ran over to Klaus and tried to pull the stake out, but struggled to do it. Mikael threw Kol against the wall and was there to grab him before he hit the ground.

"You would defend _him_?" Mikael snarled. Kol was asking himself the same question right about then.

Finally, Cami got the stake out of Klaus's chest and saw the color returning to his skin. Mikael whirled around to look at her as she clutched the stake.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cami pointed the white oak stake at him like a sword.

"Stay away from us! Or, I swear, I'll kill you myself."

"You have a warrior's heart. Perhaps I'll keep it as a souvenir." He threw Kol to the ground and rushed at Cami. Marcel appeared and pulled him away, hitting him so quickly that he was too disoriented to fight back right away. Eventually, Mikael knocked Marcel flat on his back and grabbed a regular stake to point at Marcel's heart.

"Now, _ENOUGH!_ This night has been a long parade of fools. I'll enjoy killing every last one of you." He announced loudly. He started to bring the stake down towards Marcel's heart. Kol and Hope each caught one side of it and threw it back into Mikael. The top of it embedded itself in Mikael's side and he had to stumble back, pulling it out with a small groan. Hope turned to pull Marcel to his feet, her eyes on Klaus as he started to stir.

After a second, Klaus woke with a gasp. He got to his feet, a bit unsteady. Cami kept close to him, still holding the white oak stake like it was a sword.

"You think you can defeat _me_? You'll all fools!" Mikael told them, throwing the stake aside. "I will slaughter each and every one of you. Starting with you." He focused on Hope with a cruel smile.

A chain wrapped around Mikael's throat and he was yanked back. Hayley hit him once in the face with the chain for good measure.

"I wouldn't bet on it." She shot back. Rebekah kicked him in the face, her high heel probably doing even more damage. Davina came running up to Hope, glancing at her with a look that told Hope Davina thought she was insane. Hayley and Rebekah circled around to join the rest of them facing Mikael.

"It's over, Mikael. You're outnumbered. Are you going to beg for your miserable life?" Klaus taunted.

"You think having _people_ makes you strong? It proves how weak you are. Come find me when you don't have fools, women and children fighting your battles." He sped away, disappearing in a blur. No one went after him, though the thought crossed a lot of peoples' minds.

Hope turned to Klaus and went to hug him. He wrapped her arms around her but she could tell he was angry. It didn't take long before he was off on a rant:

"Mikael could've killed you! I ordered you to stay safe, not come here like some bloody hybrid rescue squad-."

"You're welcome." She cut him off. Sighing, he said nothing else. He shifted his weight uncomfortably and she pulled away. The stab wound in his chest wasn't full healed yet. He winced as he looked down at it and leaned against a nearby pillar.

Hayley, Rebekah and Kol walked over to them.

"Well, for once, he actually ran." Rebekah said with a sigh, as surprised as she was relieved.

"He knew he was outmatched." Kol was looking absolutely smug.

"We checked the perimeter and he's definitely gone." Marcel announced from the doorway.

"I appreciate your assistance." Klaus told him.

"Well, hey! You die, I die. Just call me selfish." Marcel told him with a smile. Hayley crossed her arms and looked at Klaus again.

"Yeah, you die, a _lot_ of people die. But Klaus? We have another problem…"


	35. Rebellion

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hope sat on the balcony that overlooked the street, a notebook balanced on her knees. Hayley walked out to join her, smiled and tried to catch a peek at what she was drawing. Hope put it against her chest, effectively hiding it.

"What's up?"

"Something has to be up for me to come sit with you?" To emphasis her point, Hayley lowered herself to the floor of the balcony, back against the rails, right next to Hope.

"Well, normally it means you drew the short straw to deliver bad news."

"You know all the bad news first, mostly because you _sneak out_." Hayley shot her a meaningful look and Hope simply smiled back.

"Rebellious teen years… What can you do?"

"I didn't know you drew." Hayley motioned towards the notebook.

"I don't, really. Give me a can of spray paint and a brick wall and I can do wonders, but on paper…" She trailed off, shrugging.

"So you've committed vandalism before?"

"I never said that." Hope told her pointedly, though she sort of did. "I was working on a plan, actually."

"A plan?" Hayley echoed. She hated that Hope, evidently, thought it was up to her to save herself. She hated that every plan they'd had to protect her had backfired and blown up in their face.

"A plan." Hope confirmed, showing her the notebook. Well, she was no Michelangelo for sure, but Hayley was pretty sure she could identify the stick figures and guessed they were throwing a bucket of water on a melting Esther. Hayley laughed and handed it back.

"Nice plan."

"I thought so." Hope agreed, tucking the notebook back against her chest. A tortured scream reached their ears. Hope jumped up and Hayley blurred in front of her, instinctively putting herself better her daughter and whatever had caused that sound. No other sound followed.

Hayley glanced at Hope, knowing it was useless to tell her to stay put, and nodded her head for Hope to follow. They made their way to Klaus's bedroom, Hayley still trying to keep Hope behind her, to little success. When they got to Klaus's bedroom, Klaus was trying to wash blood off his hands and face. Hayley relaxed, slightly, and let her arm drop from in front of Hope.

"Oh. So, I see your interrogation went well?" She asked. He looked at himself in the mirror and then glanced over at the two of them.

"Eh, it turns out these witches are delicate creatures, no match for the likes of Kol and myself. No matter! I suspected my mother had Elijah captive."

"Great. Let's go find them!" Hope turned to leave, but Klaus stopped her.

"Esther is too powerful. She won't be easily found. I need to draw her out." He went to close the sliding doors that separated his room, but Hayley was quick to stop him.

"Wait, _where_ are you going?"

"I'm going to change my shirt and then I'm going to find my brother."

"Klaus, let me come with you!"

"I can help too. Three is better than one." Hope put in immediately. Klaus sighed and straightened up.

"I know you want to help, but you can't. My mother is wretched. She will _target_ the both of you in order to thwart me and I can't very well save Elijah if I'm busy saving you, can I?" Hope and Hayley both looked like they wanted to protest, so he cut them off: "Hayley, go play den-mother with your wolves. Hope, run along and do whatever it is you and Kol do that keeps you both busy and somewhat quiet." With that said, Klaus shut the doors in their faces, leaving them with little option but to do exactly what he'd told them.

They walked out of the room and, once they were out of earshot, Hayley turned back to Hope.

"If I tell you to stay here and let the adults handle this, would you?"

"Honestly, you act like you know me…" Hope shook her head, like she'd witnessed some kind of tragedy. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Stay close to me."

"Where are we going?"

"To get information. If the witches can't tell us anything more, we're going to the werewolves."

* * *

Hope had never actually been to Marcel's loft before. It looked more like an abandoned building than anything else, which she guessed what the point. Davina met her and Hayley at the door.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We need to put together a rescue mission."

"Why don't you?" Davina scoffed, linking arms with Hope. Hope smirked at her and the three of them hurried upstairs. As they neared the top level, they could hear Marcel and one of his vampires talking.

"I did like you said. I kept a low profile, went _all_ over the city. There's no sign of Elijah anywhere."

"Yeah, the humans I know said the same thing. Maybe Klaus is having better luck?" Marcel suggested.

"No, he's not, which sucks, considering how low the bar is around here." Hayley put in as she entered. Marcel and the female vampire looked at her in confusion. "Listen, you two up for a rescue mission?"

"Are we going after Elijah?" The female vampire seemed a bit more excited than Hope had expected.

"Nope. That's all Klaus. I'm talking about Oliver. Now, he and Elijah were fighting the werewolves together. I've heard that Oliver's been captured and is about to be executed. Now, look, if we can save Oliver, then we might be able to find out where Elijah is." Hayley explained.

"Kay, so what do you want from us?" Marcel questioned.

"Just a little distraction. Esther's son, Finn, he's the one that's controlling the werewolves. If you can keep him out of the way, I can go get Ollie myself." Hayley turned to leave, but Marcel sped around her and blocked her path.

"You can't take on _all_ those wolves by yourself. You'll get killed and then _I'll_ get killed for letting it happen."

"I'm not going in alone." Hayley told him, nodding towards Hope. Marcel looked at her and then laughed.

" _She_ thinks she's invincible." He told Hayley, completely ignoring the fact that Hope could hear him loud and clear. "And if you both get killed? Well, Klaus is gonna do a lot worse than kill me."

"It won't be just me and Hope, Marcel. The werewolves may be answering to the witches, but they still have an Alpha. I just have to _find_ him."

* * *

"Remind me again how I got roped into helping the Mikaelson's?" Davina questioned as she followed Hope and Hayley through the bayou.

"Because you adore me." Hope explained.

"No, that's not it…" Davina murmured, grabbing a tree branch to hold onto as she made her way up a hill. Ahead of them, Hayley stopped, looking at a beat up trailer a few yards ahead.

"Found him." Hope put in, looking behind her to make sure Davina was keeping up.

The air whistled around her and she whirled, catching two arrows midair that would've embedded themselves in her and Davina. Hayley caught another one, made a sound of disgust and threw it to the ground.

"Is that your best shot? You're gonna have to do a lot better than that if you're gonna kill hybrids!" A man came out of the trees, pulling out a sword, his bow still clutched in his other hand. Hope stared at the sword.

"What are we? Vikings?"

"Stop!" The man stopped at the command and everyone turned towards the sound of Jackson's voice. Jackson walked out of the trailer and Hayley relaxed.

"Jackson?"

"Hayley, Hope. I see you met my friend Ansel."

"You know her?" Ansel questioned.

"Yeah, actually. I do." He didn't seem thrilled about it either. He motioned towards the chairs around a fire pit and everyone went to sit down. Ansel sat across from Jackson and the women, sharpening a knife. Hope and Davina couldn't help but watch him while Hayley studied Jackson.

"A lot of things have happened, Jack. Obviously." Hayley glanced towards Hope. Jackson followed her gaze, unsurprised.

"I knew she was alive."

"How?"

"I know the call of my own pack, Hayley. Every full moon, I woke up further and further away from New Orleans. I knew." He explained. Hayley sighed; so much for the secret they'd worked so hard to keep. Without having to be asked, Jackson launched into the explanation they wanted. "After Francesca Guerrera took over the wolves, she offered me a moonlight ring as long as I'd call her Alpha. I declined. So, a couple of her brothers dragged me out here and left me for dead. By the time I healed up, word had spread about what happened to Hope. So, I knew it was over and I just drifted. And that's when I met Ansel. See, he's been teaching me the old ways, the traditions. What it means to be a wolf."

"You mean by living out in the armpit of nowhere?" Hope questioned, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jackets. Ansel was glaring at her.

"Hey, easy. Your kind makes him ornery." Jackson told her.

"My kind?" Hope repeated. "I didn't choose to get my throat slit by witches and get turned into… _this._ " Hope motioned at herself, unable to find the right word. She looked at Jackson, wondering what he would think about what she'd done during her time away. She fed on the blood in storage at the compound now, but it was hard to ignore the beating hearts of all the humans she'd paced leaving the city.

 _But I don't care,_ she told herself. _Jackson_ _can think whatever he wants. I don't care._ She got up to leave and saw Ansel tense. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, sorry, may I stand up, your highness?" She snapped at him sarcastically. She stepped past Davina, who sighed and got to her feet to leave as well. Hayley stood up, edging towards the teens but still looking at Jackson, half pleadingly and half angry.

"Whatever you and your friend think of me and my daughter, our kind are the _wolves._ Even if they _did_ pledge allegiance to a witch. All that means is they need an Alpha. Ollie needs one, too."

"Yeah, I heard about that. The thing is: Ollie _betrayed_ me. He plotted with the Guerrera's. He spilled his own people's blood."

"He was trying to make up for that." Hayley told him with a sigh.

"It doesn't matter. Witches have him, he's dead. Not that I care." 

"You don't want to be the Alpha? Fine. I'll save Ollie myself." Hayley turned and started to walk away with Hope and Davina. Ansel grabbed his bow and quiver, standing up as well. "Hey, you got a problem, old man?" Hayley snapped at him.

"I have no love of vampires, but I will not allow a wolf to be killed by witches." He explained, brushing past the women with his weapons in hand. Hope looked at Davina.

"Did I just imagine that?"

"I don't think so…" Davina was staring at him in confusion as well. Hayley got over her surprise and turned to Jackson to shot him a look.

"At least _someone_ is interested." She followed Ansel and the other girls away from Jackson. Ansel led the way through the Bayou, keeping up a quick pace that Davina and Hope seemed annoyed by. As she walked behind them, Hayley called Marcel.

" _Tell me you have your Alpha._ " Marcel said as he picked up.

"He's out of commission, but I got the next best thing. I'm assuming you have a plan to keep Finn occupied?" She asked. Ahead of her, Ansel glanced at her at the sound of Finn's name, but then kept moving.

" _Yeah... Yeah, I think I might have an idea._ " He hung up. Hayley looked at her phone in surprise, but then pocketed it and picked up the pace to keep up.

* * *

The cemetery was foggy and even creepier than usual as Hayley, Davina, Hope and Ansel made their way through the paths. The greenhouse was easy to find and Oliver was even easier… He was chained up by his wrists in the greenhouse. Hayley rushed over to him.

"Ollie! Ollie, wake up!"

"The heck are you doing?" He looked at the other three. "What the heck?"

"We're here to save you. Please tell me you know where Elijah is?" Hayley questioned. Oliver weakly shook his head. Hayley started to study the chains, trying to figure out how to get him out.

Ansel went to the window to look outside and the teen girls followed. Werewolves were jumping down from crypts and making their way towards the building.

"They know we're here." Ansel told Hayley.

"Sorry. No time to be gentle." She yanked the chains until they broke and Oliver fell on his face on the floor. Hayley pulled him to his feet so he could lean against her.

"Let's go." She called to the others. Ansel notched an arrow into his bow and nodded to her.

"Just leave me here. Go!" Oliver insisted.

"Okay." Hope agreed.

"No! They want a fight; I'll _give_ them a fight." Hayley told them.

"No." Ansel told her and she looked at him, not happy with him ordering her around. "I came with you to save one of my own, not watch as you kill scores of them. Take your friend out the back, move as fast as you can. I'll hold them off here."

"Come on. Quickly." She helped Oliver out the back entrance, with Davina and Hope hesitantly following. They made their way through the maze of crypts, trying to avoid where Ansel was holding off the army of werewolves. Hayley stopped suddenly, making the others stop as well.

"Listen." She ordered Hope. Hope could hear footsteps approaching, lots of them. She grabbed Davina's arm and pushed her behind a crypt as Hayley hurriedly got Oliver to do the same.

"Come out! We know you're here." A voice called out. Hayley helped Oliver lean against the wall and then turned to face Davina.

"Davina, are you with me?"

"Well, I'm not with them." Davina jerked her head towards the corner, indicating the werewolves. It was as much as an agreement as Hayley was going to get. She looked at Hope.

"You get Ollie out of here."

"But-."

"Davina and I can handle this group. If you run into another, you're handling it on your own. Can you do that?"

"I can that." Hope agreed somewhat reluctantly; splitting up never helped anyone in horror movies and she was starting to think she was living in one.

"Good." Hayley nodded to Davina and they started towards the group of werewolves. Hope grabbed Oliver's arm, tugging him towards the other way.

"Still don't like you." She felt the need to say.

"Feeling's mutual." Suddenly he stopped and she stopped as well, looking back at him.

"What?" She demanded.

"I can't let this happen…" He stumbled back towards the werewolves and Hope followed at a distance, wondering what on earth Oliver thought he was going to do.

"You idiots! You're lining up to fight hybrids and a witch? For what? So you can kill me? All because some witch gave an order? I know I ain't innocent, but I _never_ lost sight of what I was fighting for! We were gonna be a pack! But now? We're turning on each other! Killing your own people? We do that, we're nothing." Hope listened to Oliver's lecture, mildly impressed.

Footsteps sounded behind her and she whirled. Esther, in Lenore's body with the mark still on her hand, was behind her. Hope started to swing at her, but Esther held up a hand full of powder and blew it into Hope's face. Hope coughed, blood trickling out of her mouth and nose. After mere seconds, she collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Esther leaned over her.

"Oh, darling, how I wish it didn't have to end this way."


	36. Breaking Point

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Hayley, Oliver and Davina made their way back to Jackson's trailer. He was waiting for them, arms crossed against his chest, like they were late. Hayley stared at him as she helped Oliver sit down near the fire pit.

"How good are you at treating wounds?" She questioned Davina, without taking her eyes off of Jackson.

"I can try." Davina shrugged, reaching for the first aid kit Jackson had evidently left out. Hayley nodded to her and stepped over to Jackson.

"Well, you got him. Great. Where are Ansel and Hope?"

"Ansel was busy being a _man_. He should be right behind us. Hope went back to help him." Hayley explained.

"Jack, I have to tell you-." Oliver started.

"I already know, Ollie: you sold me out to Francesca."

"Look, I know that I can't make up for that. But, you need to hear this." Jackson looked away, grabbing a bottle of whiskey to drink from. "You're the one." He struggled to his feet, leaning against Davina's shoulder. Jackson stood defensively, grabbing a nearby staff, as if that was necessary. "You're the Alpha. Our people are not meant to be slaves! You can free them." He stopped as he started to cough up blood. He fell over, nearly taking Davina with him. Hayley rushed over to kneel beside him.

"Ollie? Ollie?" Jackson edged forward, unsure of what to do. He looked at Hayley. "What is wrong with him?"

"It's the witches. They said he had until midnight. They made good on that promise." Davina told them, setting her jaw. She'd seen enough death not to be shocked by it, but she still looked unnerved, at least. Jackson rushed over and kneeled beside Oliver as well.

"Ollie?" He propped Oliver up in his arms. "Stay with me!" Oliver was still coughing up blood.

"Jack..." He trailed off, unable to finish as he started bleeding from his eyes and nose. He fell limp in Jackson's arms and Jackson slowly laid him down on the ground.

* * *

Klaus ran into a crypt, still trying to shake off his experience with Ansel. His _real_ father. But no. He meant nothing, Klaus had decided.

"Nik! Are you going to say anything?" Rebekah questioned, stomping in behind him with Kol at her heels. Klaus ignored her, which pretty much answered her question. He went over to Elijah, bound in chains and unconscious. He ripped down the object hanging from the ceiling, the one that kept the chains from being broken, and then got to work ripping down the chains. Kol went to help and Rebekah caught Elijah as he fell.

"Oh, Elijah…" She murmured, lowering him gently to the ground. Klaus kneeled beside him while Kol kept watch.

"Wake up, brother. Elijah."

"Nik, Bekah…" Kol warned. They both looked up at Esther as she entered.

"He won't wake. Not yet. Which gives you and I one last chance to discuss my offer." Esther focused on Klaus with a smile. He broke the cuffs off Elijah's wrists with more force than necessary.

"You promised me Elijah's safe return. Or, was that a lie, just like that ghoulish atrocity outside claiming to be my father, back from the dead?"

"Your father's return is real. I pulled him from the Other Side before it collapsed, left him in the Bayou to join the wolves. And, I used the execution of one of his own to draw him here, where I knew he'd find you."

"To what end? Besides my torment?"

"I brought him here to be the father you never had. To teach you to be the man you always longed to be. Once you are remade as a werewolf, you can join him." Klaus jumped to his feet, striding towards her. Rebekah tightened her grip on Elijah, as if to protect him. Kol stepped forward, but Rebekah reached up to grab his wrist, shaking her head at him to warn him to stay out of it. Esther could tell he was furious, but she held her ground.

"His return changes nothing!"

"It changes _everything_. It is my gift to you, Niklaus. This offer is your last chance at salvation. Reject me now, and you will live out your endless days unloved and alone. Do not refuse me out of some ancient spite-."

"Not _spite. Hatred._ A pure and perfect hatred that's greater now than the day I first took your life!"

"Why, after all I've done to explain to you, why must you persist-." Klaus completely lost his temper. He grabbed her by the throat, slamming her head against the stone wall behind her.

" _BECAUSE YOU CAME FOR MY CHILD! MY DAUGHTER!_ Your own blood!" He screamed. Behind him, Rebekah flinched, her grip tightening on Elijah's unconscious form and on Kol's wrist. Esther was struggling to breath, which made it increasingly hard to speak:

"You... don't... understand!"

" _MY. CHILD!_ My Hope! You watched from the Other Side and you knew what she meant to me! You came after her to _torment me_!"

"Niklaus! I had to!" She held up her hand and Klaus's nose started bleeding. Still, he managed to stay upright, tightening his grip on her throat until she whimpered in pain.

"You declared war when you came after my family. And, for that, I will make you suffer as only I can." He smirked through the blood pouring from his nose. "After all, I _am_ my mother's son." He threw her down to the ground and rushed over to Elijah. He picked him up from Rebekah's arms and blurring out of the crypt.

Rebekah got to her feet and looked at Esther. Could this really be her mother? She supposed she should've expected betrayal by now, but it still hurt a bit to know that Esther was the one responsible for everything that had happened to Hope.

"Sister, come along." Kol nudged her arm. She broke her gaze away from Esther and nodded. They ran out of the crypt after their brothers, leaving Esther alone behind them.

* * *

"What happened here?" A new voice questioned behind Hayley, Davina and Jackson. They all jumped and looked towards Rebekah as she came into the camp. Kol was close behind her, looking bored and angry at the same time, which seemed to be his default expression.

"The witches cursed him." Davina explained, standing up and backing away from Oliver's body.

"Davina Claire, look at you, all roped into the business of the family you tried to slaughter." Kol told her. She shot him a dirty, defiant look.

"I thought Hope was dead!"

"Speaking of my favorite member of this freakish family, where is she?" He questioned. Rebekah was clutching her phone in her hand and Davina looked between them, recognizing how stressed they both seemed. Hayley stood up, wiping at her eyes and steadying herself to speak with them.

"She was with us at the cemetery. She sent us a text." Hayley handed over her phone and Rebekah snatched it, quickly reading the text.

" _Went back to help Ansel. Be back later_ …. This is not Hope!" Rebekah flung the phone back in disgust.

"Excuse me?" Hayley questioned.

"She thinks more along the lines of 'went to kill people, see ya'" Rebekah explained, mocking Hope's American accent towards the end. "We were just at the cemetery and she's not there, Hayley. And she's not answering any of our calls. Cami and Marcel lost Finn; we're worried." She added quickly. Hayley hit a speed dial on her phone and put it to her ear.

" _You know who this is. You know what to do. If I don't get back to you, it's because I don't like you. Here comes the beep._ " Hayley didn't leave a message; she could understand now why Rebekah and Kol were worried. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and looked at them.

"Alright. Let's go find her. Davina, are you up for a locator spell?"

"Yeah. Give me some blood and a map and I'll do it right now."

"Good. Jackson." She turned to the other werewolf, who was still staring at Oliver's body. She lowered her voice and went over to him. "Jackson. I'm so sorry about Oliver."

"I should've known something like this was gonna happen."

"No, you couldn't have known-."

"Just… Go find your daughter, alright?" That wasn't a suggestion; she knew he didn't want her there. Setting her jaw, she stood and followed the others away.

* * *

Hope woke up with a killer headache and the knowledge that she was royally and truly screwed. She was chained up. A quick look up told her that those chains were attached to the rafters high above. She was in some kind of old, run-down building, not the cemetery.

She heard voices behind her and craned her neck, trying to see who all was there. She couldn't see, but she heard only two voices and quickly knew it was Finn and Esther. She listened in, hoping for some useful information.

"Still burdened with hatred for me. For what happened to his daughter."

"He's a fool. I cannot believe anyone has permitted this girl to live! Your actions were to save this family! If this child lives-." Finn stopped and there was a moment of silence before Esther spoke again.

"Dahlia will return and she will come for us all…"

"So we must not let that happen." Finn's voice was so determined that it unnerved Hope. This was not a situation she wanted to be in, but his voice just made it all the worse.

"I don't suppose you guys could just let me go?" She called out, making her consciousness known. Both Finn and Esther were quick to walk over to her, into her line of sight. She looked at the bruise on Esther's head and the marks on her throat. "Problems?" She asked, just to be a pain.

"None of your concern." Esther told her quickly. Hope shrugged, as much as she could with her arms chained above her head.

"Hey, I'm a sympathetic girl. Tell me all the details."

"Do not speak to her." Finn snarled. She smiled at him.

"You really are mummy's little boot licker, aren't you?" Finn stepped forward, looking furious, but Esther held out a hand to stop him.

"We are not here because we are angry with her."

"Could've fooled me." Hope put in. Esther ignored her.

"We are here because she is a threat to everyone." As Finn backed away, Esther walked closer to Hope to look her in the eyes. "In another life, I would've loved you as one of my own…" She reached out to stroke Hope's cheek, but Hope jerked her head away. Esther sighed. "But now, we have to solve a problem. We have to figure out how to kill you, _hybrid_."

* * *

Hayley rushed into Elijah's room, instantly spotting Klaus leaning over Elijah. Klaus had his eyes closed and his nose was bleeding as he tried to get into Elijah's thoughts. Hayley sped over and ripped him away.

"What's going on?"

"I'm trying to enter Elijah's thoughts to wake him." He gestured towards Elijah, who was started to move around in his sleep. "Esther's locked me out." Hayley, momentarily distracted, walked over to Elijah and examined a wound on his neck.

"Is this rash a side effect of the witchy acid trip he's on?" Klaus frowned and went to examine the wound as well.

"I haven't seen this since I was a child. Mikael would return home from battle more blindly temperamental than usual, and our mother would use the petals of a rare merlock orchid to put him to sleep. She would mend his mind with a spell, and then wake him with the roots of the same plant." He looked at Hayley, his expression hopeful. "If she has access to it now, then maybe it also grows in the Bayou. You stay here with your wolves and mind the fort."

"Klaus, we have another problem." Hayley told him before he could rush from the room. Klaus looked at her in annoyance.

"If it's about your little pups, I am not in the mood for-."

"Hope's been taken. Davina's been trying to get a lock on her with a locator spell but it's not working… the last I saw her was in the cemetery, where your mother was."

"What?" Klaus asked, as if he'd misheard her.

"We can't find her, Klaus, and that means that Esther and Finn are doing something… horrible." Hayley couldn't bring herself to even suggest what was happening to Hope. Klaus's expression was unreadable, but Hayley knew some of the things going through his mind, because those horrid thoughts were going through hers as well. She expected him to shout at her, to blame her because she'd taken Hope to the cemetery in the first place, to tell her she was a worthless werewolf. But he was completely silent. Somehow, that was more frightening.

Finally, Klaus spoke again, his voice low and terrifyingly calm:

"Any contact we can trust, perhaps even those we don't, get them searching for her-."

"Klaus-."

"Kol knows magic, see if he can teach Davina anything that can help-."

"Klaus-."

"Rebekah and I will get to work searching for her. Whoever finds her first, get her away from my mother and Finn, kill anyone who tries to stop you-."

"Klaus!" She had to shout before he seemed to even realize she was speaking. He stopped, staring at her. "Help Elijah, alright? We can't leave him to suffer-."

"We cannot leave Hope to suffer!"

"We can't leave _either of them_ to suffer. I don't know what plant you need. Get the plant, help Elijah. I get everyone working on finding Hope." Klaus swallowed hard and slowly nodded.

"Work quickly." He said, as if not ordering her around would've killed him. With that said, he rushed from the room.

* * *

Hope woke up with a gasp. Finn was kneeling in front of her, looking very disappointed that she hadn't stayed dead. He reached forward and yanked the stake from her chest. She let out a whimper of pain that she hated herself for letting out. She looked up at him again as he paced in front of her.

"Wolfsbane, Vervain, stakes… Is there anything that's gonna kill you?" He demanded.

"Well, I wouldn't know, would I?" She snarled back. Esther had acted like this was some gift, but it wasn't. They were torturing her, trying to kill her and failing. Each failure, it seemed, was only going to result in a more painful attempt the next time around.

Finn kneeled down in front of her again, this time brandishing a long, wicked sharp knife. Hope struggled uselessly against the chains again. Finn just looked between her and the knife, a psychotic glean in his eyes.

"I wonder what happens when I take out your heart?"

* * *

Jackson sat on the edge of the dock, drinking straight from a whiskey bottle. Hayley walked up behind him but he paid her no attention. His eyes were on the small boat in the distance, containing Oliver's smoking body.

"I'm so sorry, Jack." Her daughter's name was on the tip of her tongue, her plea almost getting out before she stopped herself. She couldn't just run up and beg for help, not before trying to comfort him. Jackson jumped to his feet, looking angry.

"This is bull, Hayley! Crescent tradition says you have a funeral at dawn, and no one is here! That loyalty... Loyalty's gone." Jackson started to walk away, but Hayley put up her arm to stop him.

"We're standing around moping over Ollie's body when there's a war to be fought. I understand that you have to grieve, Jack. But the pack needs it's Alpha." She took the bottle of whiskey out of his hands; the last thing she needed was for him to be drunk. "And I need your help. Please. Hope's missing. We can't find her, the witches must have her." She explained, putting the bottle down on the dock.

"That's not my problem." He brushed past her.

"Jack!" She whirled to watch his back as he walked away from her. She sped in front of him, blocking him again. "Hope was your friend!"

"I used to have a lot of friends. Look around, Hayley! Don't have many now."

"You have her! She is being tortured. She could be…" Hayley stopped. She couldn't bring herself to say the word 'dead'. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened then and focused on Jackson again. "Please. She needs your help. I need your help. Please."

"If the witches have her, you know she's dead." Hayley's hand blurred out and she punched him in the face. He fell onto the ground.

"Fine. Stay here and drink yourself to death, Jack! The pack will be better off without you if this is really who you are." Hayley ran away, blurring with speed, so that Jackson couldn't see her cry, so Jackson couldn't see how desperate she was and how much faith she'd misplaced in him.

* * *

Klaus kept up a quick pace as he went around the Bayou, looking for the merlock orchids. He was having a hard time concentrating, though. He stopped suddenly, listening. He heard breathing and a heart beat. He sped over to Ansel and pinned him against a tree.

" _Stop_ following me. I have no intention of taking Esther's bargain, and no desire to be remade a mortal being. Now, kindly piss off. I'm in a hurry to help my _real_ family." He started to stomp away, but Ansel called out to him.

"You seek the merlock orchid." Klaus looked back at him, suspicious.

"How did you know that?"

"I saw you carry Elijah home last night. Who do you think used to find the orchid for your mother to put Mikael to sleep? Without my help, you could search forever."

"My mother brought you back from the dead. My sense of strategy tells me that it wasn't to play a father-son game of hide and seek." He turned away and stomped away again.

"You can storm off in a fit of stubbornness if you like, but I _suggest_ you do so toward the west." Ansel gestured towards the right direction. Klaus hesitated, but went that way. Ansel followed behind him. After a few minutes, he spoke again.

"A thousand years estranged and you choose to walk in silence? Surely you have questions for me."

"Just one: is there a way to cure Elijah without having to listen to the pointless ramblings of an old man? "

"I'm _afraid_ the price of my expertise is conversation." He patted Klaus on the back and slipped past him so that he could lead him through.

"You know, I used to tell myself that my real father must have had no idea I existed. Otherwise, he'd never leave me to suffer under Mikael."

"Esther forbade me from seeing you. So, I waited, knowing that one day, you would trigger your curse and need your real father. When that happened, Mikael found me first. I fought him for you."

"Yes, well, your grand declaration is just a few years too late."

"Now, you joke, but I _know_ you've always felt a void in your life. I've watched you from beyond for _centuries._ You've traveled all corners of the world, seen monuments erected, feasted on the blood of the history's most extraordinary men, but you've _never_ found true peace. The only moments of joy in your life, however fleeting, have been _simple_ pleasures. As you climbed the Himalayas, as you tended to your horses. Quiet days, teaching that boy Shakespeare-."

"Stop."

"I watched you paint. I watched you hold your daughter. I watched you grieve as you sent her-." Klaus grabbed him by the throat.

"I said, stop! A millennium of observing me… were your eyes closed as I slaughtered whole villages? Fed my way through thousands of innocents? Because, let's face it, I have a tendency to play with my food." Ansel stared at him; Klaus stepped closer so that they were almost nose to nose. "Have I made you proud, _father?_ " He shoved past Ansel and kept moving without another word.

* * *

Davina let out a groan of frustration, slamming her open palms down onto the table. Kol just looked at her, waiting for her to get control of herself. She shook her head, loose locks of hair falling into her face.

"I can't do it! It doesn't matter how much power I have! They put a spell around her. I can't find her, no way."

"Well, as long as we're being optimistic about it." Kol shot back sarcastically. She shot him a look so scornful Klaus himself would've been intimidated by it.

"You want me to be optimistic? My _best friend_ just got taken by _your mother_ and is dead for all we know! And you want me to be optimistic? How about you get off your butt and teach me something useful! Hope says you know magic. Tell me how to find her!"

"If I knew how to find her, love, I would've told you by now."

"Oh, yeah, because Mikaelson's are all about family loyalty and honesty, right?" She scoffed, turning back to the table. Kol jumped to his feet.

"Hey! I may be a Mikaelson, but I'm nothing like the lot of them."

"Why do I hear yelling and not chanting?" Hayley demanded, storming into the room. She looked between them, waiting for a response that neither of them seemed brave enough to give at that moment. Hayley sighed, trying to calm herself down again. "Did you find her?" She asked Davina, her voice lower and calmer.

"No." That seemed to set Hayley off again; she started pacing, her jaw clenched tightly.

"When I find Esther-."

"That's it."

"What's it?" Hayley stopped pacing as quickly as she'd begun to look at Davina.

"What if we don't need to find Hope? We've been doing a locator spell on her and it won't work, but would Esther put an anti-locator spell on herself?" Davina questioned, looking between Hayley and Kol.

"Mother is a genius witch, but… It's possible she slipped up." Kol seemed unwilling to admit whether or not it worked either way.

"Don't you need something of Esther's in order to do a locator spell? Like her blood?" Hayley questioned. Davina considered her options.

"What about the blood of her children?" She glanced at Kol, hoping he knew the answer.

"That would work for her original body for sure, but…"

"Do you know the exact magical science of body-switching? Because if you do, by all means, give me a definite answer." Davina told him. He said nothing. She looked back at Hayley. "It might work." Hayley looked more hopeful than she had all day.

"Rebekah's with Elijah. I'll go get her to fork over some of her blood." Hayley rushed towards the door.

"Get Elijah's too!" Davina called after her, getting a sharp nod in response. She looked at Kol expectantly. "Well?" She pressed. Kol rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I'll donate some blood for the cause all right. But if this doesn't work, we're out of options and ideas." He felt the need to point out.

"Now who needs to be optimistic?"

* * *

Esther paced in front of Hope, who was hanging rather limply from the chains now.

"Are you done?" Hope finally choked out. Throat slitting, stake to the heart, heart removal, Vervain, Wolfsbane, Esther had even tried channeling her until it would've killed a normal witch. But Hope was still alive.

"I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice." Esther told her.

"Excuse me if I don't believe you."

"I don't want this to be painful."

"Still don't believe you." Hope sang weakly as she closed her eyes.

"You have to know what can kill you."

"Like I would tell you if I did."

"Witches are able to get into another person's head. Did you know that?"

"Don't care…" Esther walked over to her with quick, decisive steps. Even with her eyes closed, Hope knew exactly where Esther was. As she came close enough, Hope snapped out at her with her hybrid teeth. Esther jerked her hands back and glared at her.

"You act like a wild animal!"

"Are you going to send me to sit in the corner now?" Hope let her head rest against her arm, still held over her head by the chains. She couldn't use magic because of the chains, but she could still bring out her hybrid face, which seemed to unnerve, or at the very least annoy, Esther.

"I want you to know, I am sorry, Hope." Esther held out her hand. " _Incendia!_ "


	37. Battle Scars

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Klaus stood in front of a large tree. Merlock orchids were growing on the branches, but dozens upon dozens of purple-flowered herbs surrounded it.

"Vervain. It's everywhere. My relentless mother has set a trap." Klaus snarled. How was he supposed to save Hope if he couldn't even save Elijah? He had been forcing thoughts of what his mother could be doing to his daughter all day, but it got harder and harder as time went on.

"I'll retrieve the merlock for you." Ansel offered.

"At what cost?" Klaus snapped at him. Ansel threw his knife into the ground and walked over to Klaus.

"Why don't you use your vampire abilities to end your doubts? Search my mind. You'll see I'm not aligned with your mother."

"I have absolutely _no_ interest in the inner-workings of your brain."

"I'm surprised at your cowardice."

"Oh?"

"While you stand here in fear of me, your brother suffers further." _And Hope,_ he couldn't help but think. Klaus looked at Ansel. It took him a moment, but he spoke again, nodding.

"Gather the orchids."

* * *

Hayley knew that complete concentration was key for Davina's spell, but she couldn't help herself as she crowded next to Davina, practically breathing down her neck. She stared at the map in front of them as the Rebekah, Kol and Elijah's mixed blood moved around.

Finally, the blood stopped and Davina stopped chanting. Hayley moved to get a better look at it, bumping into Davina in the process.

"There." Davina pointed. "It's on the outskirts of the city. Maybe some kind of abandoned building?" She suggested. Hayley was already moving.

"Kol, come on. REBEKAH!" Rebekah would've heard her without the added volume, but Hayley seemed to be in a yelling mood that day. "We're going to get Hope." Hayley added, looking at Kol.

"Weren't you going to wait for Klaus and Elijah?"

"It's been hours. We can't wait anymore."

"If you guys get killed and Hope gets stuck there-."

"We'll bring Hope back." Hayley cut her off. Davina took a breath and set her jaw, nodding. Hayley echoed the nod and hurried from the room.

* * *

Klaus sat across from Ansel as Ansel prepared the merlock orchids. He was cutting them up with a knife that Klaus couldn't help but admire.

"I've always seen a blade to have a very different use."

"Mikael taught you to kill, Klaus, but, you were born to create. Power lies in embracing your true nature."

"You think I should accept my mother's offer? Sacrifice my vampirism? And then what? Become a florist?" He asked.

"You wouldn't be sacrificing anything. As a wolf, you'll be king to an entire species. You would feel at true peace. And you'll be a better father."

"Don't not speak to me of Hope."

"I have known she lived since I've been back."

"Yes, apparently our attempt to keep her a secret has failed spectacularly." Klaus agreed, standing to pace angrily.

"I never told your mother this, but when you were a boy, after each full moon, I would wake closer to your village, having been drawn to you in the night. I know the call of my own blood, Klaus. I want to know you, to know your daughter."

"You had a lot of contact with my mother, didn't you?" Klaus questioned. Ansel nodded to him.

"We saw each other often…" He admitted. Klaus nodded silently. Ansel sighed and handed him a pouch full of damp merlock orchids. "This will help Elijah." He turned away, but Klaus called him back.

"Ansel." He turned back, interested in what Klaus would have to say to him. "I'd be lying if I said your offer wasn't appealing. I've never known a parent to be a benevolent force. I think I would have liked to have been your son. But, a different path was chosen for me, and I have, for the past one thousand years, been son of Mikael. Paranoid. Vengeful. And, powerful enough to protect my daughter." Ansel put his hand on the back of Klaus's head and stared him in the eyes.

"I want to help you defend her."

"I believe you. But love is what Esther twists. Long ago, she loved you. She still does, if she's brought you back… And I cannot let Esther have anything she loves after today."

"Klaus, no." Ansel was confused and hurt, but not especially scared.

"You waited too long before you came to rescue me." He brushed past Ansel and grabbed the sword leaning against a log. "I won't make the same mistake with Hope today."

"What are you talking about it, Klaus?"

"Esther has her. She took what matters most to me. I have to do the same to her."

"No, Klaus. I _know_ you. You are _not_ capable of this."

"That's the first lie you've told me." Klaus swung the sword and slashed through Ansel's chest with the blade. Ansel gasped, staggering forward. Klaus stepped forward and caught him, slowly lowering his body to the ground. Ansel, still shocked, reached up to touch Klaus's face with his hand before he finally fell limp. Klaus swallowed hard, looking horrified with himself, but then he steadied himself.

This was for Hope. This was for vengeance. It was necessary. He didn't need a father in any case. He needed to _be_ a father.

* * *

Hayley, Kol and Rebekah approached the run-down building wearily. No doubt Esther would know they were coming already. There were no witches or werewolves standing guard outside, so they hurried forward to the rusted door. Hayley studied it.

"Do you think she spelled it shut?" She questioned. Kol kicked it off its hinges.

"No."

"Subtle." She shot back. She started to step in, but was knocked back a good six feet, landing hard on her back. Rebekah ran over to her.

"Hayley!" She stood over, looking down in surprise. "Are you alright?"

"Uh… Yeah. I think so." Hayley pushed herself into a sitting position. Ahead of them, Kol reached out to touch the doorway with the tips of his fingers. It threw him back, though not as violently as it had when Hayley had run into it. He groaned and sat up.

"Now that is a strong boundary spell." He pushed himself to his feet as Rebekah offered Hayley a hand. Once all three of them were upright again, Hayley looked between them.

"Should we call Davina?"

"Yes." Rebekah said immediately.

"It's a strong spell, I'm not sure she could take it down." Kol put in. The women looked at him.

"Then what do we do?" There was an underlying tone of panic in Rebekah's voice that neither of them missed.

"Esther has to be able to get in and out and Cami said she saw Finn, right? So they've been leaving and coming back." He pointed out.

"How does that help us?"

"It doesn't affect witches, probably not humans either."

"Davina could walk right in, but we're stuck out here." Hayley understood.

"Suggest to the little witch to bring back up. Esther's not going to give up her newest prize possession without a fight."

"Concerned for Davina?" Rebekah teased halfheartedly, glancing worriedly at the building.

"Don't want to lose two witches in twenty-four hours. It makes us look unreliable." He told her with a smirk that looked a bit forced.

Inside the building, there was a gut wrenching scream that could only belong to Hope. The three of them turned towards the building and Hayley put a hand over her mouth to muffle a cry of her own. Without looking at Hayley, Rebekah spoke tonelessly.

"Call Davina. Now!"

* * *

Elijah woke up with a gasp. Klaus smiled at him weakly.

"What happened?"

"Well, that is a long story, brother."

"Klaus!" Davina appeared in the doorway and both brothers turned to look at her. "We found Hope. I expect you want to come?" She asked impatiently. Elijah looked at Klaus.

"What happened to Hope?"

"Mother happened." Klaus replied, grabbing his jacket and following Davina out of the room. He paused in the hallway and turned back as Elijah struggled to get onto his feet. "Stay here, brother. Regain your strength." It was more of an order than anything else. He turned and hurried after Davina. She was down the hall, talking to one of Hayley's werewolves. Klaus made a sound of annoyance and impatience.

"Come on." Davina said without looking at Klaus.

"Who is that?" Klaus demanded as they hurried past him.

"Dylan. Un-triggered werewolf. He's going to help me and Hope where you can't." Davina told him pointedly, knowing that her wording was going to make him angry. "Are you coming or not?" She added as she and Dylan hurried down the stairs. Klaus rushed after them.

* * *

Hayley, Rebekah and Kol were still waiting outside the building when the other three got there. Dylan and Davina moved into the building immediately while Klaus turned to Hayley. She was sitting on the ground, hands over her ears.

"She's torturing Hope." She didn't even seem able to use Esther's name as she ground out the short explanation for her behavior.

Davina stepped over the broken down door, glancing over at her shoulder at Dylan. Dylan wasn't all that tall, but he still towered over her and he kept close to her. Somehow that was reassuring, though she wasn't sure if he would be able to do anything, if it came down to fighting. She flexed her fingers, preparing herself for a fight as they quickly searched the building. At the end of one hallway, a door was standing ajar. Davina nudged Dylan in the ribs and jerked her head towards the door. He nodded and moved ahead of her, a silent command for her to stay behind him.

He shouldered the door open further and they both looked in. Hope was on her knees, arms chained above her, covered in blood. Her clothes were burned and falling apart in places; there was a tell-tale hole in her shirt that meant she'd been stabbed through the heart, possibly more than once. Davina and Dylan sprinted over.

"Hope, Hope, are you okay?" Dumb question, Davina knew, but she had to ask anyway. Hope had her eyes closed; she mumbled a response that Davina couldn't make out. It didn't matter; she had healed from any injuries and she would be fine once they got her back to the compound. Davina got to work taking the shackles off her and Dylan caught her as she fell over. He turned her over onto her back and propped her up on his knees.

"Hey, open your eyes, come on." He urged.

"Dylan!" Davina cried out a warning, holding her hand out. Esther was behind him, watching them. Dylan managed to get to his feet, holding Hope up against him.

"You're smart children, aren't you? If she lives, everyone here will die." Esther told them calmly.

"I'll take my chances." Davina snapped at her.

"Oh, darling, you don't have a chance."

An arrow sunk into Esther's shoulder from behind and she let out a yell of pain. Davina lowered her hand in surprise and Dylan tightened his grip on Hope's shoulders and waist. Esther mumbled something under her breath and disappeared. Davina looked at Jackson.

"Cloaking spell. She's already gone." She reported, looking around the room anyway. Jackson cast a glance around too, then lowered his bow and rushed over to them.

"You alright?" He questioned. Hope raised her head slightly.

"Well, don't I feel loved." She mumbled. Jackson cracked a smile.

"Sorry about my timing."

"Your timing was pretty awesome, actually." Hope assured him, putting her head back against Dylan's shoulders.

"Come on. Let's go." Davina urged, already edging back towards the door. Jackson ducked under Hope's arm to help support her and the boys followed Davina out of the room.

They made good time getting out of the building, which was a good thing because Hayley and the Mikaelson's outside looked ready to stroke out. Hayley jumped up from the ground as she saw them, beating anyone else as Hope was practically attacked with hugs. Jackson and Dylan moved out of the way; Hope was acting stronger without the shackles on her and Klaus and Hayley were supporting her anyway.

After a few minutes, Hayley turned to Jackson.

"Thank you."

* * *

Hope was curled up on the sofa in Klaus's study. Hayley was on the other side, watching her. Klaus walked in and went over to sit on the coffee table in front of Hope. She was awake, just looking miserable.

"Are you alright?" He'd asked that question before, as had Rebekah, Kol, Hayley, Davina, Dylan and Elijah… But he had to ask once more to be certain. She nodded against the arm of the sofa.

"I'm okay now." She assured him. He echoed her nod.

"So is Elijah going to be okay?" Hayley asked after a moment of silence.

"The merlock orchids worked; the worst has past." Klaus explained.

"So I take it you found them alright. Never knew how many weird things grew in the Bayou…" Hayley mused, taking Hope's hand in her hers. Klaus hesitated to reply and both looked at him, suspicious and weary of what he was holding back. He sighed.

"I spent the day with Ansel. My real father."

"What?" Hayley sat up straighter, jerking her hand out of Hope's with the movement. Hope, as exhausted as she was, sat up straighter too.

"Esther brought him back from the dead, believing he could convince me to renounce vampirism. The thought of what I could _be_ , had I been raised by him. Had I been nurtured. This was his." He handed a leather bound notebook to Hope, who hesitantly flipped it open.

Inside was a drawing, the style reminding Hope of Klaus's own. It was of a much younger Klaus, that much she could tell. Hope looked up at Klaus again, waiting for him to continue, because she knew there must be more.

"Esther loved him. And I… I wanted to trust him more than anything in the world. I… I wanted to, but..." He trailed off, standing up to pace. Hayley got to her feet as well, looking tense, as if she was ready for battle. Hope looked between them and focused on Klaus again.

"Dad…"

"Esther had you! She was hurting you! I had to take something she loved!" Klaus's voice rose steadily until he was almost yelling. "I couldn't let her get away with what she was doing. I couldn't let her live in peace simply because of my selfish desire for a father. So, I killed him. Without hesitation. I _killed_ him."

"Dad!" Hope jumped to her feet, swayed, and steadied herself, staring at Klaus. Hayley's mouth at popped open, but after a second she shut it again, her jaw getting tight.

"You killed him… He was Jack's friend, he helped us, he helped you-!"

"She had _Hope_!"

"Mom, dad-." Hope tried to cut in.

"He was your _father,_ Klaus!"

"HEY!" Hope's shout finally seemed to get through to them and they both stopped, looking towards her. "Enough, both of you." With a huff and a dirty look aimed at Klaus, Hayley stormed from the room. Hope looked back at Klaus after the door had slammed shut behind her mother.

Klaus looked back at her, his expression unreadable. Hope heaved a sigh and fell back onto the couch. Hesitantly, Klaus joined her, obviously wondering what she was going to say to him. For a minute, she said nothing at all. Then:

"Next time you want to break your enemies, try to do it without hurting your family." With that said, she leaned against him and closed her eyes again, trying to pretend the entire day hadn't happened…


	38. Innocence Lost

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own**

 **A/N Please review and tell me what you think**

* * *

"I don't want to be bounced around from safe-house to safe-house! I want to stay here and fight!"

"Well, it's not up to you, Baby Wolf-."

"Go head, call me that _one more time_." Both Klaus and Hope were trying to keep their voices down, but it still brought her mother and aunt into the room.

"Honestly, darling, don't be so dramatic." Rebekah scolded. "It's only temporary."

"We're immortals! Temporary for you guys is, like, a hundred years."

"Then you won't mind a bit. You said it yourself: _we're_ all immortals here." Klaus pointed out. Hope glared at him but couldn't think of anything to say.

She had gotten tortured by Esther and Finn. Yes, it was horrible. But she could handle it. She was quite certain she was already well on her way to recovery, both mentally and emotionally. Evidently, no one else could handle it. _This is like my transition period all over again,_ she thought, _getting sent away right when I learn to call this place home._ She looked towards her mother for some help, but Hayley just crossed her arms and stared at her feet. Feeling useless, Hope groaned and stomped out of the room. She passed Kol on her way out and he gave her a wide berth.

"Oh, brother! Your little pretend-son just dropped off a present." He announced cheerfully once Hope was gone. Klaus, trying to keep his cool, followed Kol out to the balcony. Kol pointed downwards and Klaus obediently looked. Finn was chained up with the anti-magic shackles, looking barely conscious and very angry. At that, Klaus couldn't help but smile.

"Well, well, well... I think it's time for a sibling chat."

* * *

"I'm not going!" Hope protested again as Hayley tucked a t-shirt into Hope's duffel bag. As she turned towards the closet, Hope sped over to the bag and pulled the shirt back out, tossing it into the closet and watching it land in a heap on the floor. Hayley sighed and stooped to pick it up.

"Look, baby girl, I don't want this either. But there are things we don't understand yet and we can't protect you here." The shirt, refolded, went back in the bag.

"I can protect myself. Big bad vampire-hybrid princess, remember?" The shirt was tossed back out.

"Well, the big bad vampire-hybrid princess is going to listen to her mother for once!" The shirt went back in.

"Bite me!" The shirt went out.

"Hope!" The shirt went in.

"What's sending me away going to do besides make _you_ feel safer? You can't protect anyone anywhere! You didn't protect me when I was a baby!" Hope's voice rose to a shout and Hayley looked at her, shocked.

"Hope, you know... you know what happened." Hayley sputtered. "I thought we'd gotten past this." Hope was looking appalled at herself.

"I know. We did. I just... I have to go." Hope started to rush out of the room but Hayley grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

"You're not going anywhere. You know how dangerous-."

"I'm just going to Davina's. I'll be careful. I have to go." She ripped her arm out of Hayley's grip and sped away.

Once she got away from the compound, Hope slowed and tried to collect her thoughts. Why on earth had she snapped at her own mother like that? She hadn't meant to, she didn't think. Was this some kind of delayed reaction to the transition? She had been violent and bloodthirsty when she was with Rebekah and Kol but she'd never actually lashed out at either of them, not like that. She stumbled down the street towards the church, keeping her eyes on the ground. Her other senses were harder to keep focused, though.

Like her sense of smell, for example. She smelled the blood and her body froze without her permission. There was blood somewhere. Her head whipped around, trying to spot the source. There was a tourist group nearby. One tourist was laughing, showing off a paper cut and shaking her head at her own clumsiness, apparently. Hope turned around to face forward again. _Don't turn this into Twilight New Moon, don't turn this into Twilight-... No. Feed. Feed now_ , she told herself. The next thing she knew, she was right in front of the group, compelling them to follow her to an abandoned alley. Kol knew a thing or do about mass compulsion and he had taught her his tricks; she did it efficiently and no one else on the street paid her a second look.

At the back of the alley, Hope turned towards her group, who were starting to look more and more like animals heading to the slaughter house. She let her fangs come out and, just like she'd told them, no one made a sound. She pounced, feeding like a wild animals on... well, less wild animals. She'd made her way through half the group before someone was grabbing her, pulling her off. Another person was shouting her name. Only once she'd been forcefully thrown onto the ground did her fangs retract and she could focus.

Marcel and Davina. Marcel had pulled her off and thrown her down. Davina was the one shouting her name. She looked up at her extended family, feeling the shame of her actions immediately.

"I-." She started, heat rushing to her face.

"Get her out of here, I'll handle this mess." Marcel cut her off by barking an order to Davina. Davina hurried forward, pulled Hope off the ground and pushed her forward, making her move away from the scene. As they hurried down the back-alleys towards the church, Hope tried to explain again.

"Davina, I-."

"What is wrong with you? Do you want to get yourself killed? What happened to not attracting attention?" Davina demanded.

"I just... When I feed I feel more powerful and I had to-."

"You're insane!" Davina hissed, pushing her into the church. She pointed towards the attic. "You go upstairs, now. Give me your phone first."

"No, do not call my parents!"

"Hope, I'm not going to let you turn yourself into a ripper!"

"I'm not turning into a ripper! I'm fine."

"You want to try that again after you wash that blood off your mouth?" Davina snapped. Hope clenched her jaw, saying nothing. "I won't call your parents, alright? But I still need your phone." Reluctantly, Hope handed it over and Davina snatched it from her. Hope turned and walked slowly up towards the attic, wiping at her mouth. Once she was upstairs, Davina started scrolling through the contacts on her phone. Finding one she hadn't been looking for but decided was probably better than Klaus, she hit dial and put it to her ear.

* * *

"We arrive into this world as innocents. Wide-eyed. Vulnerable. It is the job of our parents to nurture and protect us. Unfortunately, our own parents failed miserably at even the most basic of parental tasks. But, we are not beholden to the past they created for us. Today, a new future awaits. Forget your animosity toward Elijah and myself. Instead, join us against she who _truly_ deserves your ire: our mother. Do this, and we will welcome you with open arms!" Klaus waited for Finn to respond, smirking his infamous smirk at his elder brother. Kol, Elijah and Rebekah all sat around them and Finn was still shackled. Despite his obvious disadvantage, Finn still didn't look intimidated.

"Brothers, sister... Do those words even apply to us? After all these centuries of betrayal? And, has loyalty to you ever rewarded? I should count myself lucky to escape your vile machinations."

"You think _me_ vile? What, then, do you make of the one who cursed us?"

"She was trying to make you mortal again!" Finn shot right back. Kol picked up a knife from the table, turning it over in his hands while he studied his brother. Rebekah smacked his hand and grabbed the blade from him.

"And, you refused her. It only proves how far you've fallen. But perhaps your ex-lover and your daughter will have a different opinion?"

"Hope is off limits to _you_. Pursue her and you will suffer." Klaus snarled.

"And Hayley! Though, I suppose she could kill you herself now." Rebekah put in.

"Yes, you have a very breakable body now, brother. I'd be careful." Kol added with a smirk.

"I doubt either one of them would be hard to find or convince to-." Elijah grabbed Finn, pulled him halfway across the table before sinking his teeth into Finn's neck. Rebekah jumped and backed away. Kol just watched in interest and it turned out to be Klaus that dragged Elijah off. He pinned Elijah against the wall and Elijah put up his hands in surrender. Klaus backed off, tugged Elijah's handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and handed it to him.

"I enjoy a good bloodletting as much as anyone, but our brother has power, as well as knowledge of Esther's plans. We need him alive. We need to persuade him."

"I'm through with persuasion." Elijah started forward again but Klaus grabbed his shoulder. "Has the earth shifted on its axis? You needing restraint from me _?_ " Kol's phone rang behind them nd they turned towards the sound. Kol glanced at the screen and stood up. "I'll be back. Don't start the torture without me." He stepped out of the room and, once he was out of earshot of the others, answered his phone. " _This is Davina. There's... there's something wrong with Hope. Can you come over to the church?_ " The young witch's voice was slightly panicked on the other end of the phone. "I'll be right there."

* * *

Davina met him right inside the church, wringing her hands in front of her worriedly. Kol smirked at her and her obvious discomfort at his presence. "So why was I the first person you thought to call, Davina Claire?" "She said no parents. Figured Rebekah and Elijah were pretty much the same thing. Do you want to see her or not?" "You called for my help. Lead the way." He waved her ahead. Rolling her eyes at his dramatics, Davina led him up the stairs into the attic. Hope was sitting on Davina's bed, looking miserable. Kol sighed as he saw her and Hope turned to look at him. "Kol." "What have you done _this time_?" "I didn't mean to!" "Yeah, I'm sure those people just happened to fall onto your fangs." Davina told her sarcastically, pacing behind Kol. Kol raised an eyebrow, not taking his eyes off of Hope. He was the last person to judge about having a little vampire-snack, but he'd thought she was past that part of her new vampire life. Hope made a face, looking like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Okay, so maybe I meant to a little bit..."

* * *

Klaus strode over to Finn, who had been moved to the front room, hanging from his wrists by the manacles. Finn looked up weakly and Klaus smiled, clasping his hands behind his back. "So, brother, ready to embrace your new life of freedom?" "I'm already free, _brother._ " "You're aware our mother cares nothing for you?" "Niklaus, I assure you, my mother loves me. She loves all of her children. You would not exist without her sacrifice." Klaus smirked, obviously not believing him, and headed for the door. He stopped when Finn continued: "Do you even know the truth? That she was barren? And she grew so desperate for a family that she _begged_ one of the most powerful witches in history for help: her sister, Dahlia. Of course, Dahlia's price was high. She agreed to make our mother fertile, but in exchange, she sought the first-born as sacrifice. Having no other choice, our mother gave away our beloved Freya." Klaus scoffed and turned around to face Finn again. "Our sister died of _p_ _lague_." "Esther gave her away. Think about that. The pain, the grief." "If what you say is true, then death is far too delicate a fate for her." "She loves us more than you realize." "And is love the reason she wanted my child dead?" "She was trying to protect you from Dahlia's curse!" Klaus lost his temper and his next words came out as a shout: " _WHAT CURSE?_ "Dahlia demanded the first-born of every generation. If your child lives, she will have to pay the price! And, if anyone tries to protect her, Dahlia will come and destroy us all."

* * *

The second Hope walked into the compound, Rebekah shoved a duffel bag into her arms. "I don't know where you've been all day, but we need to leave, now." "What's going on?" Kol asked as Hope adjusted the bag to put it on her shoulder. "Cami's the body that mother's decided to try and shove me into. There might or might not be some old witch trying to hunt down Hope. All in all, we need to leave." Rebekah insisted. "Wait, wait." Hope told them. Rebekah looked impatient but motioned for her to go on. "Just... let me grab something from my room." "I have everything you need-." "Just let me check." Hope brushed past them and sped up into her bedroom. Hayley was in her bedroom, looking around wistfully. She turned to look at Hope as she entered and sighed. "Hope." "I'm sorry." "I know. It's fine." Hayley pulled her into a hug and Hope returned the gesture. "Just promise me you'll be alright and you'll go with Rebekah." "I will." "Okay." Hayley pulled away and wiped at her eyes. "Be good, baby girl." With that, Hayley hurried away. Hope watched her disappear around the corner and then turned and ran to her bedside table. She dug out the spell for the moonlight rings and tucked the paper into her back pocket. Then she grabbed the wooden knight and stared at it for a moment. "Are you and Rebekah leaving now?" She turned towards Klaus, wrapping her hand around the knight. "Yeah." She replied. "Good. There's a safe house not far from here. It's only temporary-." "That's what you guys always say." Hope sighed, pushing the toy into her pocket and heading over to the door. She looked at Klaus. "I'll see you later. Don't make it too much later." "Are you alright?" She was being way too submissive, Klaus knew something must be wrong with her. "I'm fine." She lied through her teeth and forced a smile before walking past him. In the hallway, she was caught by someone else. Dylan. "Hey, are you leaving?" "Yeah." She agreed, nodding. "For how long?" "Don't know." She shrugged and tried to look unconcerned about it, even though she felt like she was dying inside. Dylan hesitated, looking around awkwardly. "Well, good luck." He finally said. "Thanks." They stood therefor an awkward minute longer before he jumped forward and his lips crashed against hers. She stumbled backwards, surprised, but then kissed him back. When they finally pulled away, she smiled at him. "Good luck." He repeated more sincerely. She nodded mutely and he released his hold on her and walked away. She turned towards the stairs and slowly started down. She now had a mission while she was at the safe-house: learn to be a better vampire. Marcel and Davina had showed her that she was being insane. All Mikaelson's were a little whacked in the head, but that was no excuse. She was supposed to be better. Instead of wishing she was powerful, she was determined to _be_ powerful. Also, she wanted a while to think about how _amazing_ that kiss was and hope that her father never found out.


End file.
